Microsoft is challenging efforts to make Big Tech pay upfront for energy infrastructure, just months after signing a Donald Trump-led pledge to shield ratepayers from those costs. The tech giant has appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court over new rules in the state, which hosts the world’s largest collection of data centres, requiring developers to pay for the construction of transmission infrastructure upfront.

While the notice of appeal did not specify its objections, Microsoft had previously warned the ruling could cut across federal efforts to tackle the issue. The challenge comes as data centres across the US face fierce backlash for their impact on electricity costs, water supplies and noise pollution. More than $130bn of such projects were blocked or delayed in the first quarter of 2026, according to Data Centre Watch.

Rising electricity costs are of particular concern to the Trump administration entering the midterm elections. According to the Energy Information Administration, residential electricity costs have risen 15 per cent since the president took office. Dominion Energy sought permission to recover more than $1.5bn it spent developing transmission infrastructure, and in July the commission ordered Dominion to charge data centres directly and upfront.

Microsoft on Thursday said it remains committed to bearing "the costs [data centres] cause," and said the appeal is intended to ensure cost allocation "appropriately applies cost-causation principles." The move puts the company’s prior commitments under scrutiny. In January, Microsoft was the first tech giant to publicly pledge to pay higher electricity rates, and in March it signed Trump’s "ratepayer protection pledge."