Land Conservation Committee discusses data centers
The Crawford County Land Conservation Committee added data centers to its discussion agenda, expressing concerns over resource consumption and a lack of county-level zoning authority. The committee noted examples from nearby counties and towns in Wisconsin, where communities have enacted or are proposing data center moratoriums due to opposition and environmental impact worries.
The Crawford County Land Conservation Committee (LCC) has begun discussing data centers, adding them to an agenda item previously focused on industrial solar and wind projects. Chairperson Supervisor Gary Koch noted the county's lack of zoning power, which limits control over development, but observed increasing industrial solar expansion and new power lines in southeast Wisconsin, suggesting future data center development.
LCC Conservation Director Dave Troester shared his initial research, highlighting an incident in Georgia where a data center reportedly used 29 million gallons of water, causing low residential pressure, with officials refusing enforcement due to revenue benefits. Becky Nagel, Crawford County Sanitation and Zoning Technician, reported from a Wisconsin Counties Code Administrators training that data centers create few jobs but demand significant resources.
The discussion then shifted to responses in neighboring Grant County, which has seen citizen opposition to a proposed 500-acre data center in the Town of Cassville. This led the town board to adopt village powers and a two-year data center moratorium by a 54-3 vote. Other towns in Grant County have since followed suit, driven by the belief that the Cardinal-Hickory 345 kV transmission line makes the Driftless Region a target for data center development.
In the Town of Waterloo, efforts to pass a moratorium face challenges, with one town board member, Chairperson Chad Brinkman (an Alliant Energy employee), reportedly unsupportive. Grant County Indivisible is planning a protest against the Grant County Economic Development Corporation, asserting that "AI data centers are not welcome here." Vernon County, like Crawford and Grant, lacks general zoning ordinances and is actively encouraging its townships to adopt moratoriums, according to Zoning and Sanitation Director Matt Albright.