(The Center Square) – Wisconsin will be getting a complete strategic analysis on data centers from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and taxpayers will not be paying for it.
Vantage Data Centers will pay as part of the settlement in a lawsuit over its Port Washington facility.
The analysis will look at the impact on everything from aesthetics, agriculture, air quality, cultural resources, economy, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, noice, temperature, water quality, waterways, wetlands and wildlife.
The report will also include a summary on the impact on energy bills, the anticipated buildout and energy infrastructure projections from currently planned projects, which authorities have decision-making power and alternative courses of action.
The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit challenging the environmental approval of the Port Washington project this summer.
“AI data centers are massive, thirsty, energy hogs and have popped up all over Wisconsin,” Sierra Club of Wisconsin Director Elizabeth Ward said in a statement. “They could completely change our landscape and use unprecedented amounts of water and energy. Wisconsinites and our regulators need to understand the impacts and opportunities to reduce harm before allowing data centers to move forward. Wisconsinites deserve an informed, transparent process for decisions that could shape their communities and environment for decades.”
Vantage will pay for DNR staff time and the time of any consulting agencies along with necessary supplies and other expenses related to creating the report.
A recent Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll found that 36% of voters think that states should limit or pause new data centers because of their impact on local communities and resources and that 35% of voters say that states should allow data centers but place restrictions on their electricity, water, land or infrastructure impact.
The poll also found that 66% of voters believe that data center companies should be paying for the increased power demand and infrastructure required to get that electricity to the data centers.
The Port Washington lawsuit cited emails showing that DNR staff initially informed data center representatives that a full Environmental Impact Statement would be required for the Port Washington project but that report ultimately was not required after pushback from the company saying it would “kill the project.”
Lawmakers last year estimated that the $2.1 billion project will use as much electricity as the city of Los Angeles. A new report from the Public Service Commission estimates that Wisconsin will need 40% more peak demand power.in coming years due to the data center boom, especially hyper-scale projects in Beaver Dam, Port Washington and Mount Pleasant.
The data centers are also a large beneficiary of tax benefits throughout the state, including tax increment financing deals and an estimated $1.5 billion in initial foregone state sales tax from four data center projects that will later become $369 million annually once construction on the projects are complete.