Monopoly adds to negative impact of Port Washington data centers
A letter to the editor expresses concern about the environmental impact of proposed transmission lines for data centers in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The author attributes this extensive infrastructure to We Energies' monopoly on power generation in the state. The letter argues for deregulation to allow on-site power generation as a less invasive alternative.
A reader expressed significant concern over the environmental impact of new transmission lines planned for data centers in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The proposed project by American Transmission Co. (ATC) involves building 96 to 123 miles of new 345-kV lines, two parallel circuits, a new Decker Substation, and up to five additional substations across six counties (Ozaukee, Washington, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, and Calumet), at an estimated cost of $1.4 to $1.64 billion.
The author argues that this massive infrastructure footprint, which will cut through farmland, wetlands, and neighborhoods to power a 1.3-gigawatt campus, is largely due to Wisconsin law granting We Energies an exclusive, regulated monopoly on power generation since 1907. This prevents data center developers from utilizing cleaner, less invasive on-site generation methods, unlike in deregulated markets such as Texas.
As an example, the letter points to a comparably sized Vantage/Oracle/OpenAI data center in Shackelford County, Texas, which generates approximately half its 1.3-gigawatt power demand on-site using VoltaGrid's natural-gas microgrid. The author calls for Wisconsin regulators and legislators to consider breaking We Energies' monopoly to allow large customers to self-generate, thereby shrinking the need for extensive transmission line build-outs and their associated environmental impact.