3rd Data Center Speaker Outlines Numerous Concerns to Consider

The Sheboygan Common Council is hosting a Data Center Education Speaker Series to address community questions and concerns about potential data center developments in the city and county, despite no immediate projects being planned. Bridget Williams, Senior Policy Coordinator for the Great Plains Institute, delivered the latest presentation, focusing on security, water, and electricity demands.

Williams highlighted security concerns from other communities, including potential chemical release in fires and fire department access issues due to heavy physical security. A significant portion of her discussion centered on the substantial water and electricity requirements of data centers, particularly hyper-scale facilities. She cited the Port Washington data center, currently under construction and spanning 1,644 acres, as an example, noting its anticipated maximum demand of 3.5 GW, which is nearly triple the capacity of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. She emphasized that the rapid, large-scale demand for electricity from data centers presents a new challenge for the power industry's regulatory and construction sectors.

Regarding water usage, Williams stressed the need to consider both on-site data center use and the much larger demands of power generation facilities. She also advised that when creating zoning code restrictions, such as those Sheboygan is developing, data centers should face the same limitations as existing industries, not more restrictive ones. Williams mentioned Community Benefit Agreements as a way for enterprises to contribute to communities, though she noted issues with enforcement and vague language in existing agreements.