When I started at Clean Wisconsin four years ago, I was cautiously optimistic that the transition to a carbon-neutral U.S. electrical grid by 2050 was on track. Coal plants across the country were shutting down, and government incentives were boosting the deployment of renewable generation as well as consumer products like electric vehicles. Now, with the change in federal administration, the incentives are at risk. And there is another trend threatening to derail decarbonization goals—the data center boom.
Data centers, which provide computing power and digital storage, are being proposed and built by tech companies across the country (and globe) at an accelerating rate, primarily to support the growth in Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. Known as hyperscalers, the number of these large data centers has tripled since 2017,and this new wave of massive data center expansion comes with an enormous energy cost. Today, there is an estimated 82 gigawatts of data center load globally, and the amount for AI alone is expected to more than triple by the end of the decade. These companies, like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and X, are in a race with each other to build facilities and access the energy they need—seemingly regardless of the environmental cost. Despite the tech companies’ ambitious sustainability goals, data centers worldwide are expected to add 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions to the atmosphere annually by 2030. That is about 40% of the entire annual U.S. carbon footprint.
While the data center boom is global, its impact is already being felt here in Wisconsin. At its open meeting on May 22, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved We Energies’ proposal to spend nearly $1.5 billion on two new gas plants to serve demand largely driven by a new AI data center in Mt. Pleasant. We Energies plans to operate the plants in the communities of Oak Creek and the Town of Paris for the next 30 years.
Thousands of Wisconsinites opposed the plants, with many Clean Wisconsin members submitting comments and speaking at the public hearing urging the Commission to deny the applications. Clean Wisconsin intervened in the case and presented alternative generation portfolios that included significantly more renewable energy, battery storage, and efficiency and conservation measures that could have mitigated the need for new fossil-fueled generation. While the Commission criticized some aspects of the utility’s application, it ultimately agreed with the company that the generation was needed to serve the data center load. We are waiting for the final written order for the Oak Creek and Paris plants from the Commission and are considering our legal options.
Data centers are quickly becoming the most significant impediment to the clean energy transition. If tech companies, regulators, and elected officials don’t do everything in their power to ensure AI data centers are powered by clean energy, we risk blowing through the emissions limits necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change and continuing to harm communities impacted by the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. AI proponents say the technology will make our lives better—finding cures for diseases and even fighting climate change. Others worry that AI will eliminate jobs and stifle human creativity and intelligence. Now AI’s impact on the climate is another cause for alarm.
Clean Wisconsin thanks all of our members who spoke out in opposition to We Energies methane gas build-out. We will continue to rely on your voice and support as we keep fighting for clean energy and healthy communities in Wisconsin.
