On November 12, Noelle Walsh, head of Microsoft's Cloud Operations and Innovation division, said the company will bear the electricity costs of data center expansion itself rather than rely on government subsidies or pass them on to other electricity consumers. Microsoft plans to invest $117 billion this year in building AI and cloud computing capacity. The company is working with Chevron and investment firm Engine No. 1 to advance a large data center and supporting power project called Project Kilby in West Texas. The project was previously affected by a local moratorium on data center approvals, but construction is still planned to begin in 2028, with full operation targeted for 2031. Chevron said the project will create local jobs and stable tax revenue. Microsoft stressed that data center construction must bring net benefits to the communities where they are located; otherwise, it will be difficult to move forward.