Biden praises Microsoft project and trolls Trump in Wisconsin
President Joe Biden visited southeastern Wisconsin on May 8, 2024, to announce Microsoft’s plans to build a $3.3 billion data center in the swing state.
A planned Microsoft data center in Cherry Valley at US Route 20 and Wheeler Road in Boone County could bring up to 300 high-tech jobs to the region by 2030.
Microsoft unveiled the proposal Monday during an open house at the Tebala Event Center, 7910 Newburg Road, on 309 acres that is currently used for agriculture.
The prospect of new, well-paying jobs in the area caught the attention of Dino Pandya, a Rockford resident whose child is pursuing a doctorate in physics at Princeton University and whose other will soon complete a master’s degree in computer science at Northwestern University.
“This will be a good thing for the community,” Pandya said. “I think we need something like this to bring quality jobs to the area and it will inspire our next generation.”
The project will be reviewed by the Cherry Valley Planning & Zoning Commission on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
More: Microsoft continues to expand its data center campus in the Racine area. The latest purchases total $14.6 million
Microsoft would be “a very quiet neighbor”
A Microsoft spokeswoman said in an email to the Rockford Register Star that the Cherry Valley data center is part of Microsoft’s “broader strategy to expand its data center infrastructure to meet increasing demand for Azure cloud services.”
If the project moves forward, it would begin in summer 2026 and is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs. The first data center building would be completed in summer 2028.
More buildings could be built later, bringing the total to six on the site. Each would house servers that form the backbone of the cloud computing services needed for shopping, banking, streaming video, sending email, storing files and all other online activities.
The servers are air-cooled to minimize water usage, and operating at full capacity is expected to use about as much water as 30 homes. Microsoft promises to use 100% renewable energy by 2025 and plans to eliminate the use of diesel generators for backup power by 2030.
Each building employs approximately 50 people, including human resources administration, environmental operations personnel, training and development staff, IT operators, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, security personnel and building maintenance workers.
Plans call for surrounding the campus with a 10- to 12-foot-high wall to reduce noise. Mature trees will be planted between the data center campus and its closest neighbor, the East Valley neighborhood, to create a buffer zone about 1,500 feet wide, said Jim Claeyssen, Cherry Valley township administrator.
“They’re a very quiet neighbor,” Claeyssen said. “Even their new generator systems are much quieter than they used to be, and they only run when there’s a total power outage. They’ll get their power from the ComEd high-power grid that runs along the county line, so there’s nothing that needs to be put underground from outside the village.”
Microsoft announces that it will invest in STEM education to prepare the population for high-tech jobs, local infrastructure and the use of local suppliers.
State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) said he expects the data center to generate significant property tax revenue for the region’s taxing authorities and to be a better neighbor than other potential industrial sites on the site.
“Having a Microsoft cloud here is good for a community’s reputation,” Syverson said. “Just like Rockford can say it has a Hard Rock. So it’s a win-win.”
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, by email at [email protected] and at X. @jeffkolkey.
