Responsible Development
Responsible Data Centers for a Thriving Wisconsin
When planned responsibly, data centers can create great opportunity for Wisconsin communities.
The Opportunity
Economic growth and affordability can go hand in hand.
Here is how responsible development delivers real, tangible value across the state
Number One
Helping Communities Thrive
Data center investments are accelerating grid modernization, supporting new energy generation, and helping communities access more reliable infrastructure. Combined with the tax relief, job creation, and community investments that they provide, data centers are proving that economic growth and affordability can go hand in hand.
The benefits of data centers extend far beyond technology. Every new facility brings significant economic activity through construction jobs, skilled operational positions, supply chain opportunities, and the growth of local businesses that support these investments.
Data centers also generate substantial tax revenue that helps fund schools, public safety, infrastructure improvements, and community services without increasing the tax burden on residents. Many operators go even further by investing directly in workforce development, STEM education, community grants, and local nonprofit initiatives. These investments create a ripple effect that strengthens local economies and expands opportunity for families across generations.
Number Two
Responsible Economic Development
Responsible economic development balances economic growth, community benefit, and long-term sustainability. Critical infrastructure, such as data centers, can generate significant tax revenue, create high-quality jobs, support local businesses, and strengthen a region’s ability to participate in the digital economy. However, responsible development requires ensuring that these investments deliver tangible public value through workforce development programs, infrastructure improvements, educational partnerships, and other community benefits that actually improve quality of life for residents.
At the same time, responsible economic development requires careful planning to address potential impacts before projects are approved. Communities should identify appropriate locations based on infrastructure capacity, access to power, transportation networks, water resources, and compatibility with surrounding land uses. Clear zoning standards, predictable permitting processes, buffering from residential areas, sound mitigation measures, and thoughtful design requirements help create certainty for investors while protecting community interests.
Responsible economic development recognizes that economic growth and environmental stewardship must advance together. Major data center operators are increasingly driving investments in renewable energy, recycled water systems, grid modernization, and other sustainability initiatives. Communities that establish transparent development guidelines can encourage projects that reduce environmental impacts, support cleaner energy infrastructure, and strengthen regional resilience. The most successful economic development strategies therefore focus not only on attracting investment, but on ensuring that growth is fiscally beneficial, environmentally sustainable, and aligned with the long-term needs of both residents and businesses.
Number Three
Next Generation Data Centers: Conserve Water, Protect our Utility Bills
They heard you. Across the country, new policies and industry commitments are ensuring that data center operators conserve water, and they fund the infrastructure and energy resources needed to support their facilities, shielding residents from added costs. Data centers are helping communities prosper while protecting affordability.
Conserving and Preserving Water
It is true that older generations of data centers often relied on evaporative cooling systems that consumed significant amounts of water to keep servers operating efficiently. As demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence has increased, concerns about water use have become an important part of the conversation surrounding data center development. However, the industry has undergone a major technological shift in recent years.
Modern data centers are increasingly designed around advanced cooling technologies that dramatically reduce water consumption, including closed-loop cooling systems, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, and in some cases fully waterless cooling designs. These systems continuously recirculate cooling fluids rather than consuming large quantities of freshwater, allowing facilities to operate efficiently while minimizing their impact on local water resources. Oracle’s newest AI data centers, for example, are deploying closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling systems specifically designed to avoid continuous water consumption, while Microsoft’s next-generation facilities are being built to use zero water for cooling operations altogether.
As a result, many new data centers are becoming leaders in water conservation rather than major water users. Companies are also investing in water recycling, rainwater harvesting, and infrastructure improvements that help protect local water supplies. These innovations reflect a broader industry trend toward sustainability and demonstrate that the data centers supporting tomorrow’s AI-driven economy can grow while preserving local water resources and strengthening environmental stewardship.
Protecting your Utility Bill
Wisconsin residents are protected from higher utility bills because state regulators have established clear rules requiring data centers to pay the full costs associated with the electricity they consume. Recognizing the unprecedented energy demands of large-scale data centers, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) has approved specialized tariffs designed specifically to prevent costs from being shifted onto households and small businesses. Rather than relying on existing customers to subsidize new infrastructure, these tariffs require data centers to bear the costs of the generation, transmission, and delivery resources needed to serve their operations.
In 2026, the PSC strengthened these protections by requiring very large data center customers to commit to long-term service agreements and by eliminating provisions that could have allowed them to pay less than their full share of energy infrastructure costs. The Commission specifically required that data centers cover 100 percent of the costs associated with the resources needed to serve them and directed utilities to address any potential transmission cost shifting. PSC commissioners emphasized that their goal was to ensure data center customers “pay their own way” and that existing ratepayers remain fully protected from any financial burden associated with new development.