While a lot of decisions surrounding data centers originate at the local level of government, Habush Sinykin said in a Nov. 6 press release the state Legislature also “has a responsibility to regulate this emerging industry.”

“The new legislation being proposed today is about making sure that we have clear, statewide guardrails in place that provide people in communities across Wisconsin with the information and transparency they need to engage in the local decision-making process in an informed, effective manner from the start,” Habush Sinykin said.

More: Wisconsin lawmakers propose data center water and energy use transparency bill

What impact do data centers have on the environment?

An August report from the Alliance for the Great Lakes found some data center sites can use between 1 and 5 million gallons of water per day. The average American household uses a few hundred gallons a day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Many Great Lakes states lead the nation in the number of data centers due to the freshwater resources available to them, which are needed to cool hyperscale data centers, some of which can use as much water as a small city.

The report contends that data center owners are not transparent about their water footprint, and there is no requirement for them share that information publicly. Fewer than one-third track water usage, and, often, data centers sign nondisclosure agreements with local governments on water use.

On Sept. 15, Midwest Environmental Advocates filed a legal action, on behalf of the Milwaukee Riverkeeper, against the City of Racine to disclose projected water use at Microsoft’s Mount Pleasant data center.

The move is one of the first of many that will likely become the next phase of controversy over Great Lakes water rights as more tech companies look to the region for its seemingly endless supply of water.

Unsustainable water use can cause cities to sink because the ground becomes more compact. The Alliance for the Great Lakes report notes Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis and Detroit sink more each year. Over time, this threatens drinking water supplies and infrastructure.

More: Will massive water needs of data centers, farms, mines be too much for the Great Lakes?

How much energy do data centers in Wisconsin use?

Demand for energy is increasing in Wisconsin, in part, due to the data centers popping up in the state.

Data centers in southeast Wisconsin account for more than half the 3.3 gigawatts of increased energy demand WEC Energy Group, We Energies’ parent company, expects to experience by 2030, said President and CEO Scott Lauber during an Oct. 30 earnings call.

These include the first phase of Microsoft’s $7.3 billion Mount Pleasant data center project and a $15 billion data center campus in Port Washington, which will power OpenAI and Oracle’s artificial intelligence programs.

While data centers account for a large part of the increased demand for energy in Wisconsin, We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said demand for energy in Wisconsin is also expected to grow outside of data center projects, which has prompted the company to file a flurry of applications to spend more than $5.5 billion on new energy projects.

The utility filed plans for nine major energy projects with the state Public Service Commission on Oct. 17. If approved, the plants would add nearly three gigawatts of energy to the grid, or enough to power more than two million homes.

Since a majority of the expected energy demand is coming from data centers, under We Energies’ proposal, data center customers would be required to cover 75% of the cost to build and maintain the plant, which would be passed along through energy bills. Other We Energies customers would cover the remaining 25%, as well as the annual cost of natural gas.

Additionally, as part of its rate plan proposal, We Energies would require data center companies to enter a 10-year service agreement that then automatically renews for one-year terms. If a company ends its agreement early, it would have to pay the remaining cost of the infrastructure powering its data centers.

More: We Energies plans $5.5 billion in new energy projects as data center demand grows

Where are Wisconsin’s major data center projects?

Here’s where some of Wisconsin’s major data center projects are happening, as of Nov. 13.

Mount Pleasant Microsoft data center campus

Microsoft is finishing construction on its first Racine County data center, which is to be completed in early 2026. The company says it plans to hire more than 400 employees to work at the first data center and once the second data center opens, the total number of employees will be nearly 800 for both facilities.

Construction for the second data center is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2028. Thousands of construction jobs are planned for the completion of the data center, the company said.

Microsoft just expanded its Racine County data center land holdings with two more purchases totaling around $38 million, according to land deeds posted online by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue on Nov. 10. Microsoft said it now owns 2,005 acres in Mount Pleasant.