MONROE — The push to address the hot-button issue of data center construction has reached the Monroe Common Council, with the Plan Commission set to discuss it at its regular meeting July 8.
But the city is unlikely to take any action on the matter — if at all — until Green County’s Zoning Committee meeting July 13, during which a one-year moratorium on data centers is being considered and discussed.
“It’s too early for us to do anything but we did want to have a discussion about it,” said Monroe Mayor Tom Miller, who also chairs the Monroe Plan Commission. “We do have to see what the county is going to do.”
Nationwide and in Wisconsin, data centers and their impact on communities and the environment are making headlines, as the use of artificial intelligence and demand for other types of high-speed data have led to construction of facilities such as the massive new data center in Port Washington.
Many of the proposed locations are in rural areas, and Wisconsin’s climate and access to infrastructure have been cited as a reason for peak interest here among tech companies seeking to build. While some communities have welcomed any economic development, others have decided the costs are too high for data centers — demand for water and electricity chief among the issues.
In a recent win for Wisconsin opponents of such projects, a proposal for a massive $2 billion data center in Grant County, in the heart of the driftless area, was recently abandoned. Developers had initially scouted a 500-acre site near Cassville due to its access to the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line, but backed off after intense pushback from residents.
For his part, Alderman Matt Sheaffer, who also sits on the Plan Commission, said he isn’t closing the door on data centers here, and welcomes a city discussion of the issue.
“I’m kind of indifferent to it,” said Sheaffer. “If it brings a bunch of jobs, I’m all for it.”
Some have criticized data center projects for either not following through on the number of promised jobs; or of having little impact on local employment once the facilities are built, and up and running.
During the Plan Commission meeting, officials will review a consultant’s document on data centers that includes insights on whether Monroe — or an area contiguous to the city limits that could be zoned in — would meet the specifications needed.
For example, the presentation from consulting firm Vandewalle & Associates notes that data centers need access to an electric transmission line with a capacity of 69 KV and the area does appear to have such access.
The Vandewalle report also notes that large data centers can use up to 555,000 gallons of water a day. They typically require 0.5 to 1.5 acres per megawatt of power produced — meaning a 500 MW center would require at least 250 acres of land. (Meta’s data center in Beaver Dam is 525 acres).
That level of impact on local services has officials, including Miller, concerned, although he said a discussion of the issue is necessary to ensure all options for the city are considered.
“There’s a lot of utilities needed for them, that’s my thought on it,” he said. “In this area we’ve already got some issues with the electrical network and this much more demand to it on top of that could be a catastrophe.”
Miller added that it is important for the city and county to work closely together on the issue to avoid redundant policies.
The Vandewalle report said options available to the city related to data centers include regulating or banning them through the zoning code; or taking the county’s approach of a moratorium on data center proposals.