Wisconsin Data Center Intel

Recent Wisconsin data center news

• Jul 14, 2026

  New York becomes first US state to impose data center moratorium

  New York has announced a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data centers.

  • Governor Kathy Hochul signed the order into law, immediately pausing environmental permits for projects of 50MW or more while a regulatory framework is developed.
  • The framework will include a Generic Environmental Impact Statement on energy demand, water use and quality, and air quality, and local entities will receive guidance within 60 days on community benefits negotiations; the order also directs consideration of a New York Grid Acceleration Fund.
  • The article also references earlier and proposed legislation, including S.9144 introduced by Elizabeth Krueger and a proposed national moratorium, the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, introduced by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in March 2026.
• Jul 13, 2026

  Weather grows as one of data center growth’s greatest risks

  Zurich North America has released a report warning that AI-driven hyperscale data centers face a broader set of construction, operational, and insurance risks as buildouts accelerate.

  • Report focus: Zurich’s report, “Data Center Risks Right Now: Six Critical Questions to Enable a Resilient Buildout,” highlights severe weather, compressed construction schedules, energy infrastructure, water availability, downtime, equipment replacement delays, workforce shortages, and geopolitical/regulatory pressure.
  • Key figures: Zurich says hyperscalers are expected to spend $710 billion in capex during 2026, global data center investment could exceed $7 trillion by 2030, and new capacity added from 2026-2030 is expected to total about 100 GW; it also says average insured data center value has risen from about $150 million five years ago to roughly $3 billion today.
• Jul 10, 2026

  Lightpath to provide fiber infrastructure for two new hyperscale data center campuses

  Lightpath has announced it will provide fiber infrastructure and multi-terabit capacity to support two hyperscale data center campuses under construction in the United States.

  • The two campuses are planned to exceed one gigawatt each and are located in Saline, Michigan and Port Washington, Wisconsin.
  • The Saline build is scheduled for delivery by the end of this year, while Port Washington is expected in Q2 2027; both are being delivered with an anchor hyperscale customer that was not named.
  • Chris Morley said Lightpath is partnering with hyperscalers to build new fiber infrastructure for AI-driven demand; Tim Haverkate said the company will deliver route-diverse, multi-terabit capacity across new construction, existing network assets, and partner fiber.
• Jul 10, 2026

  FLOPS vs Megawatts: Who’s Winning in 2026 Supercomputing?

  The article provides analysis and commentary on 2026 supercomputing buildouts, contrasting public exascale systems with hyperscaler AI campuses. It is not a first-time announcement by one entity, but a roundup of recent developments and milestones.

  • The piece compares public TOP500 systems and private hyperscaler AI campuses, highlighting that private builds are measured in hundreds of megawatts to gigawatts rather than HPL scores.
  • It cites several recent milestones, including Microsoft’s Wisconsin Fairwater campus, xAI’s Colossus 2, OpenAI and Oracle’s Stargate, and Meta’s Prometheus nuclear power agreements.
  • It also notes Alice Recoque installation in France under a €354.8 million EuroHPC JU contract with Eviden and mentions the next TOP500 list at SC26 in November.
• Jul 10, 2026

  US-based BESS companies Peak Energy, ESS Inc and Unigrid aim to commercialise sodium-ion in US, Europe

  Peak Energy, ESS Tech Inc, and Unigrid have announced new sodium-ion energy storage manufacturing, product launches, and deployment milestones in the US and Europe.

  • Peak Energy selected Sacramento, California for a new Na-ion BESS manufacturing facility announced 8 July, targeting up to 4GWh annually and US$71 million in capital investment.
  • The project is expected to create 239 local jobs over 18 months; Peak also cited a US$10.5 million CalCompetes tax credit awarded in May 2026 and earlier phased deals including up to 4.75GWh with Jupiter Power.
  • ESS Tech Inc launched the ESS Bridge, a 1.2MWh modular Na-ion BESS for utilities, AI-driven data centres, critical infrastructure operators, and C&I customers; it can scale to 4.8MWh in the same footprint as a traditional 20-foot container.
  • Unigrid announced first deliveries of its Na+Casa residential BESS, rated at 9.25kWh, with installations in Europe and US availability expected by end of 2026 pending compliance requirements.
• Jul 9, 2026

  Plans for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, data center in former Walmart building shelved amid strong local opposition

  The proposed data center-style “computing research facility” at a former Walmart site in Milwaukee has been removed from the redevelopment application after local opposition.

  • The revised plan for the 108,000 sq ft Midtown site will keep the self-storage facility and add new housing plus a Milwaukee Public Library branch.
  • The original concept would have used about 19,000 sq ft for a high-performance computing facility with a closed-loop glycol cooling system; Alderman Mark Chambers, Jr. said the change followed public engagement and testimony.
• Jul 8, 2026

  Patented: Topgolf’s Newest Award and More Inventions Across North Texas

  Dallas Invents has reported a weekly roundup of patents granted in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, highlighting Topgolf’s new patent among other local assignees and inventors.

  • Topgolf International, Inc. received U.S. Patent No. 12649095 for a Galton configuration in golf ball receiving apparatus and systems that uses RFID tags and an antenna reader to identify golf balls while avoiding jams.
  • The article is a news roundup/commentary on patent activity, not a first-time corporate announcement; it also lists other grants to entities including Texas Instruments, Toyota, Samsung, Bank of America, Citibank, USAA, Halliburton, and Akamai.
• Jul 7, 2026

  Manure-to-energy projects eye data centres as new market, raising environmental concerns

  The article explains that manure-based biogas is being used and promoted as a renewable energy source for data centres and cryptocurrency mining, while critics warn it may reinforce factory-farm expansion.

  • Ag-Grid Energy operates a project at Lent Hill Dairy Farm in Steuben County, New York, where two anaerobic co-digesters convert manure from around 4,000 cows and more than 45,000 gallons of food waste per day into renewable natural gas (RNG) used to power an on-site cryptocurrency mining facility.
  • The company says it also plans to support small-scale data centres in rural areas with on-site power generation and fibre-optic connectivity; the article adds that Vanguard Renewables operates or develops more than 50 co-digesters in the US and aims for more than 100 by end-2028, while biogas projects have received over $150 million from the Inflation Reduction Act and more than $100 million in private bonds approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund.
• Jul 1, 2026

  AI explained: Why the world needs to act now

  The UN Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence launched a preliminary report warning the window to establish effective global AI governance may not remain open for long.

  • Main announcement: The panel released a preliminary report (launched Wednesday) urging urgent international cooperation to build governance for rapidly advancing AI; the panel was established in 2025 and comprises 40 experts serving in their personal capacities.
  • Background and details: The report documents concrete trends and data: the United States holds about three-quarters of leading AI supercomputing power, China about 15% (roughly 90% combined); AI has predicted structures of more than 200 million proteins; the panel’s findings will feed into the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance beginning 6 July 2026 in Geneva.
• Jun 30, 2026

  The 250-year history of U.S. energy consumption

  The U.S. Energy Information Administration published an explainer on the 250-year history of U.S. energy consumption.

  • The article summarizes how U.S. energy use shifted from wood in the 18th and 19th centuries to petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydropower, wind, solar, and biofuels by 2025.
  • It notes that in 2025 U.S. total energy use was 96 quads, up 2% from 2024, and that fossil fuels still accounted for 82% of energy consumed.
  • The piece also states that electricity demand is expected to grow faster than any time since 2000 through the end of 2027, mostly because of data centers; it also references EV electricity consumption of 24 billion kWh in 2025.