Responsible Data Center Development

Backed by Facts.
Grounded in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Partnership for Progress is a broad coalition of business, labor, community, and infrastructure stakeholders working to ensure residents and decision-makers have clear, fact-based information about data centers—and the opportunity they represent for our state.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Digital Backbone

Powering Our Daily Lives

Data centers are the digital backbone of modern life, powering everything from cloud computing and telehealth to advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence that we use in our daily lives. By attracting investment and supporting next-generation technologies, data centers help ensure that future generations inherit communities that are competitive, connected, and prepared for the jobs of tomorrow.

Data centers are the foundation for innovation, entrepreneurship, and long-term prosperity — attracting investment and supporting the next-generation technologies that will define the jobs of tomorrow.

Railroads

Connected communities to commerce and industry.

Highways

Linked regions to opportunity and growth.

Data Centers

Connect Wisconsin to the digital economy.

The Opportunity

Helping Wisconsin Communities Thrive

Economic growth and affordability can go hand in hand.
Here is how responsible development delivers real, tangible value across the state.

Thriving Communities

Data center investments are accelerating grid modernization, supporting new energy generation, and helping communities access more reliable infrastructure — alongside the tax relief, job creation, and community investment that prove growth and affordability can coexist.

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Responsible Economic Development

True progress balances growth, community benefit, and long-term sustainability — ensuring investment delivers public value through workforce development, infrastructure improvements, educational partnerships, and benefits that genuinely improve residents’ quality of life.

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Conserving Water, Protecting Bills

New policies and industry commitments ensure operators conserve water and fund the energy and infrastructure their facilities require — shielding residents from added costs. Next-generation data centers help communities prosper while protecting affordability.

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Why This PArtnership Exists

Meaningful Discussion, Crowded Out by Misinformation

Across Wisconsin and the country, data center proposals face opposition often fueled by misconceptions rather than the site-specific plans and regulations that guide responsible development.

When government, utilities, and corporations aren’t seen as neutral messengers, communities need access to trusted, fact-based information and local expertise to make good decisions.
That’s why we’re here.

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Clear, fact-based information

Replacing rumor with evidence

Trusted local voices

Business, labor & community

Transparency

Open, informed decisions

Wisconsin’s competitiveness

Ready for tomorrow’s jobs

Who We ArE

United for Wisconsin’s Future

Wisconsin Partnership for Progress unites business, labor, community, and infrastructure stakeholders committed to helping residents, local leaders, and policymakers better understand data centers and their role in our state’s economy.

We believe that when planned responsibly, data centers deliver lasting benefits — job creation, infrastructure investment, expanded tax revenue, and support for the technologies that power modern life. By promoting transparency and responsible development, we help ensure communities are informed, prepared, and positioned to share in the benefits.

Get Involved

Help Build a Competitive,
Connected Wisconsin.

Whether you’re a business, labor organization, community leader, or infrastructure partner, there’s a place for you in the coalition shaping responsible growth across our state. Sign up for more information about the Wisconsin Partnership for Progress.

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Latest News

Updates From the Partnership

Insights, announcements, and the facts shaping responsible data center development across Wisconsin.

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Your Questions, Answered

Frequently Asked Questions

Understanding data centers starts with asking good questions—and getting honest answers. We’ve gathered the questions Wisconsin residents and local leaders ask us most, along with clear, factual responses. Our goal is simple: to help your community make informed decisions with confidence.

Older generations of data centers often relied on evaporative cooling systems that consumed significant amounts of water, making water use a valid concern as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence has grown. However, the industry has undergone a major technological shift toward advanced cooling technologies such as closed-loop systems, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, and even fully waterless designs. These innovations recirculate cooling fluids rather than continuously consuming freshwater, dramatically reducing water use while maintaining operational efficiency.  Many new data centers are becoming leaders in water conservation, supported by investments in water recycling, rainwater harvesting, and other sustainability initiatives that protect local resources.
Wisconsin residents are protected from higher utility bills because state regulators require data centers to pay the full costs of the electricity infrastructure needed to serve them. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved specialized tariffs that prevent those costs from being shifted onto households and small businesses. In 2026, the PSC strengthened these protections by requiring large data centers to enter long-term service agreements and cover 100 percent of the generation, transmission, and delivery costs associated with their operations. As a result, regulators have made clear that data centers must “pay their own way,” ensuring existing ratepayers are not responsible for subsidizing new development.
Data centers seem to be popping up everywhere because our economy is becoming increasingly digital. Every online activity—from streaming video and video calls to cloud computing, online banking, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence—depends on data centers to process, store, and transmit information. 
The average person uses artificial intelligence far more often than they may realize. Every time you use a smartphone assistant, receive personalized recommendations on Netflix or Spotify, get directions that avoid traffic, filter spam emails, or use many online tools, AI is working behind the scenes. AI also powers fraud detection for credit card transactions, predictive text and autocorrect, online shopping recommendations, and many customer service tools. Increasingly, AI is becoming a productivity tool. Students use it to help research topics and summarize information. Professionals use it to draft emails, analyze data, create presentations, write code, and automate routine tasks. Small business owners use AI to create marketing content, manage customer inquiries, and improve operations without hiring additional staff. AI is also transforming healthcare and public services. It helps doctors analyze medical images, supports emergency response systems, improves weather forecasting, and assists researchers in developing new medicines. While most people never directly see these systems, they benefit from faster, more accurate decisions and services. In simple terms, AI is becoming a lot like electricity or the internet: a technology that quietly powers countless everyday activities, often without people realizing it’s there.
In many ways, data centers today are what power plants, railroads, and highways were to earlier generations: critical infrastructure that supports economic growth and daily life. As households and communities increasingly rely on cloud services, remote work, digital healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and AI technologies, the need for data centers will continue to grow alongside the digital economy.