Oneida County to hold public hearing for data center moratorium

Oneida County, Wisconsin, is scheduled to host a public hearing this Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Oneida County Courthouse to discuss a proposed moratorium on data center development. The hearing comes amidst growing concerns regarding the environmental and infrastructural impact of large-scale data centers within the state.

Amy Barryu, communications director for the environmental advocacy group Clean Wisconsin, voiced significant apprehensions about the unchecked growth of massive hyperscale AI data centers. Barryu highlighted that a single project could consume more energy than a million Wisconsin homes, describing it as "unprecedented." Clean Wisconsin estimates that two major data center projects in the state could collectively require 3.9 gigawatts of power, enough to supply over 4.3 million homes, significantly exceeding Wisconsin's 2.8 million housing units.

Water consumption is another critical issue, with Clean Wisconsin noting that while some data centers claim closed-loop cooling systems, they often fail to account for the substantial water used in power generation. In Wisconsin, power generation is responsible for 70% of the state's water withdrawals. The organization also pointed out the pollution caused by additional power plants needed for data centers and the permanent environmental changes resulting from such large-scale land use transformations. While acknowledging the temporary construction jobs and potential funding data centers can bring, Clean Wisconsin urges local communities to be vigilant and fully understand the long-term implications of hosting facilities that could use more energy than major cities like Milwaukee.