Data centers become the watch word

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Last night, the 2026 race for governor ticked another checkbox — the Wisconsin Technology Council was the first to host a gubernatorial candidate forum this cycle.  

Given the sponsor, it’s no surprise that the six candidates who showed up —five  Democrats, one Republican — were asked about their views on data centers. They largely offered answers that struck a balance between economic opportunity and regulation. 

At the same time, about a 20-minute drive north from the event at the Monona Terrace in Madison, yet another data center company was holding an open house on yet another proposed development, this time in northern Dane County. Virginia-based QTS Data Centers had also held a virtual information session earlier in the day. 

QTS is proposing a data center campus across 1,600 acres of what is now rural farmland in the town of Vienna — property that they’re petitioning DeForest to annex. In the first three years, they’d be focused on building five data center buildings across 650 acres. 

The company says it’s a $12 billion capital investment, and would contribute millions in taxes and $50 million in community benefits. They add that they’d use a closed-loop water design, which eliminates the need for excessive amounts of water, a common complaint against projects like these.  Company leaders say they’d pay for all electric utility costs through a renewable energy grid. (County estimates have projected that the energy costs would use more than double Dane County’s current energy consumption, Isthmus reported several weeks ago.) 

QTS is also promising jobs — more than 700 of them permanent, and more than 5,000 in construction over the next decade. That last point is what’s drawn the support of labor groups, and why the info session was held at the LiUNA Training Center. 

“Some opponents of this project might label the jobs that are being created for LIUNA members and other trades as ‘temporary,’ but that is just additional misinformation,” said Kent Miller, President/Business Manager of the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council in a press release. 

“Our skilled members work project-to-project to put together a career to support their families, and this project will result in years of work that will result in workers earning great wages, health, and retirement benefits,” Miller added. 

Political leaders are looking at how to balance these goals — weighing burgeoning development and the potential of economic infusion and job growth with concerns over land use, water draws, and the effect of energy demands on consumers. 

Dane County leaders have announced a resolution to create an advisory committee on regulating data center proposals. Under the proposal, they’d analyze energy consumption and emissions, electrical transmission and impacts for ratepayers, water usage, noise and “community character impacts,” energy services and security implications, economic and fiscal benefits, land use and environmental compatibility… and more. The proposal has been referred to the Personnel & Finance Committee. 

One state lawmaker wants to do the same. Also, yesterday, state Senator Jodi Habush Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay) announced a bill to create a regulatory framework to “hold data centers, large energy users, and tech companies accountable.” She says the proposal was developed with input of both environmental orgs and labor unions, along with  other stakeholders.  

The latest Marquette Law School poll found that 55% of voters think the costs of large data centers outweigh the benefits. At a poll release event, Director Charles Franklin told Civic Media that party lines on data centers just “are not clearly drawn at this point,” matching our on-the-ground reporting that’s found the formation of unusual political alliances. 

But, he added, “check back in a year or two years, and see if that party divide has developed on this issue.”

---