Opinion | Rural communities have urgent need to address data centers

Kayla Papenfuss, a business owner and homeowner from Deerfield, Wisconsin, published an opinion piece in The Cap Times urging rural Wisconsin leaders, especially those in Dane County, to enact an immediate temporary moratorium on new data center development. Papenfuss highlights the significant costs and impacts data centers impose on small, rural communities, citing examples like Microsoft's project in Mount Pleasant. The article details concerns over extreme electricity and water consumption, which strain local utility infrastructure and raise rates for residents, as well as noise pollution from cooling systems and generators that can make nearby homes uninhabitable. Furthermore, Papenfuss argues that data centers are a poor use of land in Dane County compared to housing, small businesses, and agriculture, while creating few permanent jobs. The piece criticizes the 2023 Wisconsin Legislature's sales and use tax exemption for qualified data centers, which lacks a sunset provision, effectively subsidizing these projects indefinitely at taxpayer expense. It also points to a We Energies proposal, reviewed by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, that would make "very large customers" (i.e., data centers) pay only 75% of new power plant infrastructure costs, shifting the remaining 25% plus all fuel costs onto other ratepayers. Papenfuss references the recent abandonment of a 1,600-acre QTS data center proposal in DeForest, Dane County, due to "overwhelming community opposition," noting reports that QTS is now scouting alternative sites in the county and may leverage a new community partnership to gain approval. She quotes local activist Quinn Natzke, who stresses the urgency of a moratorium before more data centers are established. The article concludes by emphasizing the disadvantage rural communities face without proper legal guardrails and calls for elected representatives to adopt a temporary moratorium to regain control over development.