Evaporative on Columbia basin irrigation water; adiabatic retrofit under way
Basis
Fitted to a published figure of 270 million gallons a year
Air — what the stacks emit
Nitrogen oxides124t/yr
Sulphur dioxide53.3t/yr
Fine particulates14.2t PM2.5
Health damages$10.8M/yr
Where it burns
WECC Northwest — Ore. / Wash.
Generation mix
Hydro 48 · Gas 22 · Wind 15 · Nuclear 6
CO₂e
233 kt/yr — climate, not air quality
Who wanted it
Who asked for it
Microsoft — self-build and Azure customers
Who approved it
Grant County PUD hydro supply at some of the cheapest industrial rates in the US; City of Quincy water agreements
What it serves
Azure west US region
IT capacity
250 MW running of 450 MW announced
The original cheap-hydro data center town, built around Grand Coulee power. Quincy's own water infrastructure had to be expanded for the campuses, and the diesel backup permits there triggered one of the first US data center air-quality fights back in 2012.
Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level
error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors.
Full method.