La Crosse Common Council approves 18-month moratorium on data center development
The La Crosse Common Council approved an 18-month moratorium on data center development, immediately pausing new projects to allow city and county officials to study potential impacts. This move follows an earlier moratorium enacted by La Crosse County, with both entities aiming to research environmental, economic, health, safety, and infrastructural concerns. The moratorium applies to facilities meeting specific data storage or power consumption thresholds and will remain in effect until zoning code amendments are adopted or it is rescinded.
The La Crosse Common Council has approved an 18-month moratorium on data center development, effective immediately. This decision halts new data center projects within the city to provide officials with time to conduct a comprehensive study of potential environmental, economic, health, safety, and infrastructural impacts.
This action by the city aligns with an earlier move by La Crosse County, which in June 2026, enacted its own 18-month moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas and established an ad hoc committee. La Crosse City will now participate in this committee's work as it develops its own regulatory standards.
The moratorium targets facilities capable of storing, processing, retrieving, or distributing over 1 petabyte of data or consuming more than 2 megawatts of electricity. Key concerns prompting this pause include issues related to electrical connections, overall energy demand, electromagnetic fields, noise pollution, impacts on air and water resources, water usage, and fire hazards. The moratorium will remain active for 18 months, or until the city council adopts recommended amendments to its zoning code, or opts to rescind the moratorium.