With several projects in the works, a big question is who will foot the bill for their power needs. Watchdog groups are eyeing the proceedings, but utility company reps have said they intend to protect consumers.
(TNS) — A roughly 500-acre data center in the works for Dodge County
would add 150-plus megawatts of energy demand to Wisconsin’s electrical
grid — or enough to power tens of thousands of homes — and immediately
become the state’s largest single energy user.
Discussions are also underway to add other hyperscale data centers, including a 615-acre proposal in Dane County and facilities eyed for Mount Pleasant and Kenosha, with several of the projects spearheaded by some of the nation’s largest companies like Meta and Microsoft...Not to be outdone, plans in Port Washington are underway to build a data center campus that, when it opens in 2027, would need more than 1 gigawatt of power. That’s enough to power roughly 800,000 residences, or several hundred thousand more homes than in all of Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
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RSK: I have been saying this for months and now the chickens come home to roost....hopefully not on us resident ratepayers.
Ken Notes: Wisconsin is very attractive to data centers because we are on the energy super highway between Western renewable production and Eastern demand. There are hidden "costs" as new lines are built like the 345 kV Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line and upcoming 765 kV lines to transfer the load. This means we: lose prime ag and rec land, pay some of the cost, will see massive solar arrays and other renewable projects, will see an influx of new power intensive businesses, and profits will will shift to stakeholders in other part of the country like Microsoft and Meta. Our rates should go down and we should see more jobs, revenues and tax dollars for the state but so far that has not happened.
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- - Volume: 25 - WEEK: 36 Date: 9/2/2025 9:37:02 AM -