A Microsoft data center is built on land once slated for development by Foxconn in Mount Pleasant, Wis. Work on the 450-megawatt, $3.3 billion campus, seen here on May 8, 2024, has paused twice since workers broke ground in 2023. (Angela Major / WPR)

The opinion article “Your Right to Know: Data center secrecy is unacceptable” is really important because it makes us stop and ask a critical question: Are these huge new data centers helping our community, or are they causing more harm than good? 

This piece by Tom Content matters because it brings up three big worries that directly affect regular people and families.

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Delicia Morris is a News 414 Ambassador at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

First, these centers could hurt your family’s wallet. Data centers use massive amounts of electricity. If the power company has to build new, expensive equipment to support them, they might just pass those costs on to you, making your household electricity bill even higher.

Second, our beautiful lakes and beaches are at risk. Data centers need tons of water to cool down their computers, and this heavy water use could cause serious problems for our local water supply and the environment. We need to know how much water they are taking so we can prevent damage we can’t fix.

Finally, the community doesn’t seem to be getting a fair deal. These centers often get big tax breaks, which means they don’t contribute money to important things like school systems. They also don’t create many high-paying jobs. It looks like the community is taking all the risk but getting very few rewards.

That’s why this article is a necessary warning. It shows that we must demand clear information and responsibility. The risks to our family budgets and our environment are too great, and we need to stand up to protect our community’s future.

Read the story here.

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Raised in a South Side neighborhood where he still lives, Edgar Mendez is the managing editor of the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Mendez is a proud graduate of UW-Milwaukee, where he double majored in journalism and sociology, and of Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in communication. He won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and 2014, 2017, and 2018 Milwaukee Press Club Awards for his reporting on taverns, marijuana law enforcement, and lead in water service lines. In 2008, he won a Society of Professional Journalists’ regional award for columns dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness and racism. His writing has been published by the Associated Press, Reuters, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media. He has also co-authored three articles published in scholarly journals.