La Crosse County Board to vote on data center moratorium Thursday
The La Crosse County Board is scheduled to vote on an 18-month moratorium on data center development. County Board members Dillon Mader and Lia Manock proposed the legislation, citing concerns over energy and storage usage. A committee has begun studying the potential impacts of data centers to inform future county policies.
The La Crosse County Board is set to vote Thursday evening on a proposed 18-month moratorium on data center development within the county. The legislation, put forth by County Board members Dillon Mader and Lia Manock, aims to pause new data center constructions while a committee studies the potential impacts, particularly concerning energy usage and data storage. Manock stated that the committee will examine thresholds for energy consumption (two megawatts) and storage (one petabyte) that would define a data center under the moratorium.
The proposed moratorium is intended to allow the county and its 18 municipalities time to establish either a complete ban or specific parameters for future data center operations. The article also includes commentary from a source critical of the moratorium, referencing the CATO Institute's arguments against such bans. This opposing view suggests that legislative bans on data center infrastructure are economically shortsighted and that lawmakers should instead focus on market adaptation to energy constraints and alternative grid systems.