Wisconsin is home to 47 Data Centers and there are currently at least five more being planned or in construction. Local communities including De Forest are the decision makers when it comes to siting Data Centers and have complex choices to make. Hyperscale Data Centers are huge facilities with enormous energy demands. They can also bring significant local economic benefits and provide family-supporting construction jobs.
Currently, there is no statewide framework for regulating Data Centers. That’s why I am a co-author of the Data Center Accountability Act. This bill is an important step in holding Data Centers and Big Tech accountable by establishing statewide requirements to protect the environment, ensure transparency in reporting energy and water use, make sure no utility cost increases are passed on to Wisconsinites, and guarantee the economic benefits Data Centers promise are delivered.
The bill ensures that there are guardrails in place that provide local residents in communities across Wisconsin with the information and transparency they need to engage in their local decision-making process in an informed, effective way from the start.
Another important provision in the bill requires large data center projects pay the workers who build and refurbish them at least the local prevailing wage or, if workers are covered under collective bargaining, the higher of the two wages. To qualify for sales and use tax exemptions, large data center projects must meet this standard and derive at least 70% of their annual electric use from renewable sources.
Thanks to my colleagues Senator Jodi Habush Sinykin and Representative Angela Stroud for their leadership on this legislation. This important bill addresses top concerns I hear from my constituents about Data Centers and provides the transparency and accountability we deserve from the Tech giants who want to build these facilities in Wisconsin communities.
