Oneida County data center moratorium advances to county board
The Oneida County Planning and Development Committee has passed an interim moratorium on data centers, which now advances to the full county board for approval. The ordinance aims to provide the county with a year to develop comprehensive regulations for future data center developments. This move is driven by concerns over energy and water usage, despite no current data center plans in the county.
The Oneida County Planning and Development Committee has unanimously passed an interim moratorium on data centers, a decision that now awaits approval from the full county board. The move comes as Wisconsin is increasingly attractive to data center developers, partly due to its freshwater resources and a state sales tax exemption for data centers enacted in the 2023-2025 budget. However, communities like Oneida County are raising concerns about the substantial energy and water consumption of these facilities.
Officials state that the ordinance aims to provide the county with at least a year to establish comprehensive regulations for data centers. During this moratorium period, the county will cease accepting, processing, or issuing permits for any new data center developments. Despite there being no current data center plans in Oneida County, the interim moratorium received strong support from both the committee members and public speakers, who emphasized the priority of protecting the county's water resources for future generations, acknowledging northern Wisconsin's appeal due to its cooling and water availability.