Digital Realty appoints Microsoft veteran Jim Collins as global head of energy, signaling intensified focus on power management at the REIT

US colocation data center firm Digital Realty has appointed Jim Collins as senior vice president, global head of energy.

Collins joins from Microsoft, where he spent 13 years in various leadership roles, most recently as general manager of global energy markets. Prior to Microsoft, he spent ten years as an energy consultant at North Carolina-based consulting firm Brubaker & Associates.

Reflecting on the appointment on LinkedIn, Collins said: "The opportunity to help advance Digital Realty's global energy strategy at a time of extraordinary growth in data centers, cloud, and AI infrastructure is both exciting and humbling. I look forward to learning from the outstanding leadership team and collaborating with colleagues, customers, utilities, policymakers, and industry partners around the world."

Digital Realty has implemented a range of clean energy and sustainability initiatives to address its carbon footprint, including rooftop solar arrays at its Swiss data centers, participation in a 24/7 renewable energy matching initiative in Sweden, and a 500GWh hydropower deal from three projects on the Ohio River.