Wisconsin

Rising data center demand reshapes Wisconsin’s power and water choices

Rising data center demand reshapes Wisconsin’s power and water choices

Melissa Palmer
January 13, 2026

Wisconsin’s data center buildout is reversing decades of declining electricity demand, with utilities projecting peak load to rise from 14.6...

Balancing Wisconsin data center growth with local energy and water concerns

Balancing Wisconsin data center growth with local energy and water concerns

Melissa Palmer
January 12, 2026

Wisconsin Republican legislators are signaling they want to grow data centers while preempting local backlash around land, water, and power....

Quiet land grab signals secretive AI data center push in Wisconsin

Quiet land grab signals secretive AI data center push in Wisconsin

Melissa Palmer
January 9, 2026

Developers using a Delaware LLC tied to Cloverleaf Infrastructure are quietly offering up to $120,000 per acre for rural land...

Wisconsin Data center expansion costs shift off utility bills under proposal

Wisconsin Data center expansion costs shift off utility bills under proposal

Melissa Palmer
January 7, 2026

Wisconsin Republicans are pushing a bill to keep residential and small business utility customers from footing the power bill for...

Data center referendum denied in DeForest, Wisconsin

Data center referendum denied in DeForest, Wisconsin

Melissa Palmer
January 7, 2026

DeForest’s village board just rejected a petition that would have forced a public referendum on the QTS AI data center...

New zoning rules in Menomonie, Wisconsin tighten data center power, water, and noise limits

New zoning rules in Menomonie, Wisconsin tighten data center power, water, and noise limits

Melissa Palmer
January 6, 2026

Menomonie, Wisconsin just moved data centers out of the generic “warehouse” bucket and into their own zoning class, which is...

Microsoft data center becomes Wisconsin County’s top long-term taxpayer anchor

Microsoft data center becomes Wisconsin County’s top long-term taxpayer anchor

Melissa Palmer
January 5, 2026

Microsoft’s Mount Pleasant, WI data center campus is now assessed at about $1.224 billion, making it the largest taxpayer in...

Local pushback blocks planned backup AI data center site in Wisconsin

Local pushback blocks planned backup AI data center site in Wisconsin

Melissa Palmer
December 9, 2025

Yorkville’s village leadership has effectively shut the door on a proposed backup data center that would have supported Microsoft’s growing...

Mounting Wisconsin opposition shapes how AI data centers are planned

Mounting Wisconsin opposition shapes how AI data centers are planned

Melissa Palmer
December 1, 2025

Local pushback in Wisconsin is zeroing in on AI data center power and water use, with a petition over 1,200...

The Hidden Constraint in the AI Race: Communities Saying No

The Hidden Constraint in the AI Race: Communities Saying No

Melissa Palmer
November 29, 2025

Something fundamental is shifting inside the United States, and it has nothing to do with GPU supply or model sizes...