Wisconsin Watch offers brief reports on data center development across the state exclusively in their free Monday newsletter Forward.
Data centers
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Competition intensifies over who builds Wisconsin’s grid as data centers drive power demand
The Midwest’s grid operator reversed course on a key transmission project, marking a victory for Wisconsin’s largest transmission developer.
Posted inEconomic Development
Local data center critics praise Microsoft’s pledge to stop using NDAs, but remain skeptical
‘Companies typically don’t make announcements about building community trust unless those communities are already pushing back pretty hard,’ one environmental group says.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Here’s what the data center boom means for Wisconsin’s workforce
Wisconsin Watch spoke to three professors to find out how many jobs and what types of work data centers bring to communities, what the economic trickle-down effects of data centers are and more.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
More than NDAs. Wisconsin communities face scrutiny over data center secrecy.
The town of Beloit is the fifth Wisconsin community with an NDA for a possible data center.
Posted inEconomic Development
Data centers fuel $1 billion in Wisconsin business growth, but some question long-term impact
Wisconsin companies are doing big business in data centers even though none of the hyperscale facilities are yet operating in the state. But the long-term impact remains unclear.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Data center boom spotlights Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission. Here’s what the agency does.
The three-member commission regulates Wisconsin’s utilities and power rates. A surge in data center proposals is putting agency decisions under new scrutiny.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Wisconsin debates how to pay for the power-hungry AI boom
Regulators mull the first big utility plan to provide electricity to data centers flocking to the state, igniting disputes over consumer protection and clean energy.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
At least four Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers
Massive data center proposals are often developed in secret. Wisconsin has now joined several states with legislative proposals to make the process more transparent.