PHOENIX, July 7 — The figure that matters: two weeks. That is how long copper thefts pushed back the completion of Microsoft’s Goodyear, Arizona data center campus, according to comments Microsoft CFO Amy Hood made during the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call on April 30, 2024. The campus was originally scheduled for completion in Q3 2025.
By the numbers, the problem is not unique to Microsoft. Amazon Web Services disclosed in a May 2024 blog post that theft of networking switches and copper cabling from its Hilliard, Ohio site caused a $1.2 million loss and a six-week delay.
Equinix, in its 2023 annual report filed in February 2024, noted a 15% increase in security costs at its North American construction sites due to theft. The bottom line: construction delays from theft are hitting major cloud providers at a moment when they are spending heavily on AI infrastructure. Microsoft announced a $50 billion global data center expansion plan in January 2024.
AWS committed $35 billion for new data centers in Virginia and Ohio by 2030. Equinix allocated $7.4 billion for capital expenditures in 2024.
Investors will note the pattern. The delays are not isolated incidents but a recurring operational risk across the sector. Theft of copper cabling and networking switches directly slows construction timelines and increases costs, even as demand for cloud and AI computing capacity accelerates.
What is being stolen, and where
Copper is the common thread. Thieves target copper cabling for its scrap value, pulling it from active construction sites. Microsoft’s Goodyear campus in Arizona lost two weeks to copper thefts.
AWS’s Hilliard, Ohio site lost networking switches and copper cabling, producing a $1.2 million hit and a six-week delay. Equinix reported a 15% rise in security costs across its North American construction sites, though the company did not specify individual site losses.
The thefts are happening across multiple states and multiple companies. The three providers named — Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Equinix — are among the largest operators of data center infrastructure globally.
The spending backdrop
The delays come against a backdrop of massive capital deployment. Microsoft’s $50 billion global data center expansion plan, announced in January 2024, is one of the largest infrastructure commitments in the tech sector. AWS’s $35 billion commitment for new data centers in Virginia and Ohio by 2030 targets two of the largest data center markets in the United States.
Equinix’s $7.4 billion in 2024 capital expenditures reflects its own build-out plans. These numbers put the theft-related losses in context.
A $1.2 million loss at a single AWS site is small relative to the overall spending, but the operational impact — six weeks of delay — can ripple through construction schedules and capacity timelines. The two-week delay at Microsoft’s Goodyear campus similarly pushes back the date when that facility can begin generating revenue.
What to watch next
The question for investors and analysts is whether these thefts are a temporary spike or a structural problem that will persist as data center construction accelerates. Equinix’s 15% increase in security costs suggests companies are already responding with additional measures, but those costs themselves cut into margins. Microsoft, AWS, and Equinix have all publicly acknowledged the issue.
None have indicated that thefts are slowing their overall expansion plans. The $50 billion, $35 billion, and $7.4 billion commitments remain in place.
But the delays and losses are now on the record, and shareholders will be watching whether the companies can keep construction timelines on track as they pour capital into new facilities.
