New analysis from Clean Wisconsin reveals scale of data center energy demand
AI data centers are poised to drive unprecedented energy demand in Wisconsin, and a new analysis from Clean Wisconsin reveals the scale of that demand. There are currently at least five proposed or approved AI data center projects across the state, but just two have disclosed information about potential energy use. Those two projects—the Microsoft data center in Mt. Pleasant and Vantage data center in Port Washington—will require a combined 3.9 gigawatts (GW) of electric power, which is enough energy to power 4.3 million Wisconsin homes. According to census data, Wisconsin has just 2.8 million housing units in the entire state.
“To put this in perspective, that is more than three times the power production capacity of Wisconsin’s Point Beach nuclear reactor,” says Clean Wisconsin Science Program Director Paul Mathewson, who conducted the analysis. “And because only two of the data center projects have disclosed their power needs, we know this is really just a fraction of what the energy use would be if all those data centers are ultimately built.”
Water Use
The lack of disclosure around energy demand also obscures the strain data centers may put on Wisconsin’s water resources. The facilities will not only use water on site, but the power plants built to serve them will also need water. For example, gas-fired power plants use 2,803 gallons of water per MWh of energy produced.
“There has been very little transparency about the amount of water that will be used on site at these proposed data center campuses. Add to that a lack of transparency about energy use, and it’s impossible to know what the impact on Wisconsin’s water resources will be,” says Clean Wisconsin Water and Agriculture Program Director Sara Walling. “Communities need to know what the on-site demand will be on the hottest, driest days of the year when our water systems are most stressed. And we need to understand how much water will be needed off site to meet a data center’s enormous energy demands.”
A call for transparency from utilities and developers
Wisconsin’s energy utilities are often involved in the early planning of these projects, sometimes playing an active role in bringing them to our state.
In early negotiations about the Port Washington project, We Energies enticed the developer to build a much bigger data center campus than was initially planned, a move that more than tripled the energy needs of the project, according to newspaper reports.
Meantime Alliant Energy lured data center developer QTS to Dane County after working with the company on a similar project in Iowa. The planned Dane County data center would take up more than 600 acres in the small farming community of Vienna if approved by local officials.
“If data centers come to Wisconsin, they must benefit—not harm—our communities. But right now, we have far more questions than answers about their impacts. How much energy and water will a project use? How will those demands be met? Will there be backup diesel generators on site and how often will they be fired up for testing? Our communities don’t have the transparency they need and deserve,” says Clean Wisconsin Climate, Energy and Air Director Chelsea Chandler.
