More than NDAs. Wisconsin communities face scrutiny over data center secrecy.

Wisconsin communities are under increasing scrutiny for their use of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and lack of transparency regarding large-scale AI data center developments. The article highlights several cases across the state where information about proposed and under-construction facilities has been concealed from the public. In Port Washington, Mayor Ted Neitzke initially claimed his city avoided NDAs, but the city is now in court for refusing to provide full communications regarding the 672-acre Lighthouse data center campus, a project by Vantage, OpenAI, and Oracle. Resident and environmentalist Lynde Uihlein sued the city after public records requests were only partially fulfilled, prompting Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Adam Gerol to rule that email attachments are indeed part of public records. Separately, the Town of Beloit signed an NDA with Delaware-based Cambrin LLC for "Project Corn Maze" over a year before public announcement, indicating a 700,000-square-foot facility with 50 employees. The push for transparency extends statewide. The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council honored Midwest Environmental Advocates for successfully suing the City of Racine for water usage projections for a Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant. Furthermore, the state Public Service Commission, initially accepting redactions from Alliant Energy regarding a Beaver Dam data center, was instructed by administrative law judge Michael Newmark to require fewer redactions to ensure public understanding. Legislative action is also gaining momentum. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Water Policy released a model for state legislation recommending temporary statewide moratoriums on data centers, banning local government NDAs, and mandating public disclosures on water and electricity use. The state Senate committee approved Senate Bill 969 to prohibit NDAs and Assembly Bill 840 to protect ratepayers from data center electricity costs. Similar NDA-banning legislation is progressing in Minnesota, though a provision was removed from a data center bill in Florida.