Wisconsin Data Center Intel

Recent Wisconsin data center news

• Nov 5, 2025

  MGE Looks to Add More Solar and Battery Storage to Serve Customers

  Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) has filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin seeking approval to add more than 85 MW of solar capacity and 18 MW of battery storage to its generation portfolio.

  • Main announcement: MGE requests PSCW approval to add >85 MW solar and 18 MW battery storage and to purchase 10% ownership stakes in five large-scale solar projects developed with WEC Energy Group; named projects and MGE proposed shares are: Akron Solar (200 MW total; MGE 20 MW), Dawn Break Solar and Storage (180 MW solar + 180 MW storage; MGE 18 MW solar + 18 MW storage), Emerald Bluffs (225 MW; MGE 22.5 MW), Fox Solar (100 MW; MGE 10 MW), and Superior Solar Energy Center (150 MW; MGE 15 MW).
  • Background and details: The filing is part of MGE’s broader strategy to expand renewable energy, advance energy efficiency, and support electrification of transportation; MGE states that by 2030 it expects to have added more than 40 renewable generation and battery storage projects since 2015 totaling more than 750 MW, and MGE’s parent company is MGE Energy, Inc.
• Nov 5, 2025

  MGE Looks to Add More Solar and Battery Storage to Serve Customers

  Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) is seeking approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to add more than 85 MW of solar capacity and 18 MW of battery storage to its generation portfolio.

  • Main action: MGE has filed for PSCW approval to add >85 MW of solar and 18 MW of battery storage, acquiring 10% ownership shares in five large-scale projects developed with WEC Energy Group (Akron Solar: 20 MW share; Dawn Break Solar and Storage: 18 MW solar + 18 MW battery share; Emerald Bluffs: 22.5 MW share; Fox Solar: 10 MW share; Superior Solar Energy Center: 15 MW share). The combined WEC-developed projects would bring more than 1,000 MW of solar energy and battery storage capacity to Wisconsin.
  • Background and timeline: MGE states that by 2030 it will have added more than 40 renewable generation and battery storage projects since 2015, totaling more than 750 MW, and cites a company-wide goal of net-zero carbon electricity by 2050. The projects are presented as part of a broader strategy including renewable expansion, energy efficiency, and transportation electrification.
• Nov 4, 2025

  Flux XII Fundraise Supercharges Scaling of Disruptive Grid Energy Storage Technology

  Flux XII announced a $3.95 million seed funding round led by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment.

  • Funding & investors: Flux XII raised $3.95 million SEED in a round led by The Grantham Foundation with participation from Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), Desai Ventures, and gener8tor; earlier backers include Activate Fellowship, Third Derivative, Gigascale Capital, The Collaborative Fund, Safar Partners, and LiquidMetal Ventures. The company has scaled up electrolyte and membrane production in industrial facilities and begun testing multiple kilowatt-scale prototypes.
  • Product roadmap & timelines: Flux XII will validate an MVP module in 2026 under controlled testing and design a fully-integrated, containerized BESS; it is forming a consortium of utilities, developers, universities, and research partners to support system pilot testing in 2027 and aims to reduce CapEx by 50% at 100 megawatt scales.
• Nov 4, 2025

  New Data Center Developments: November 2025

  Data Center Knowledge published a monthly roundup summarizing recent global data center developments and investments across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.

  • Main roundup details: The report aggregates announcements including a $70 billion Pennsylvania initiative launched at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit; Amazon’s $8 billion Project Rainier (30 interconnected data centers in Indiana); Google’s multi-billion-dollar West Memphis campus plan; Meta’s >$1.5 billion GW-scale data center in El Paso (expected launch 2028); and a collaboration where OpenAI, Oracle, and Vantage will deliver almost a GW of AI capacity in Port Washington, Wisconsin, with campus construction starting soon and completion targeted for 2028.
  • Energy and implementation details: Highlights include deployment of a 31 MW, 62 MWh BESS by Aligned Data Centers and Calibrant Energy to accelerate site commissioning; DOE opening the Oak Ridge Reservation for private AI data center development; Blue Energy planning a gas-to-small-reactor plant supplying up to 1.5 GW to Crusoe Energy Systems with a planned reactor transition by 2031; and Google committing €5 billion in Belgium plus new PPAs with Eneco/Luminus/Renner. Timelines specified in the article include 2026–2030 for Google’s $15 billion India hub and 2028 targets for several GW-scale facilities.
• Nov 3, 2025

  Energy Affordability: Price Trends and Factors

  Vincent Potter of the NC Clean Energy Technology Center outlines factors driving U.S. electricity price increases and notes that many utilities have active rate cases as of October 2025.

  • Main announcement/action: The article explains that data center expansion, infrastructure upgrade and replacement costs, and fuel cost volatility are creating upward pressure on retail electricity prices; as of October 2025, at least 50 electric utilities in 29 states and Puerto (Puerto Rico) have rate cases pending before regulators. The piece cites EIA data showing residential prices rose from 16.61¢/kWh in July 2024 to 17.47¢/kWh in July 2025, and an overall 2020–2025 increase of 3.88¢/kWh nationally (with California ≈ +12.5¢/kWh).
  • Background and details: The author highlights data center maps and the DELTa database (NC Clean Energy Technology Center partnered with Smart Electric Power Alliance to compile/release the Database of Emerging Large-load Tariffs) as tools to track large-load tariff developments; it also documents supply-chain delays (Reuters reported ~five-year lead times for new gas turbines) and rising equipment lead times and costs, plus that natural gas supplied over 40% of U.S. electricity in 2024, with wholesale gas prices ranging ~$2.10–$6.60 per Mcf, a 2025 EIA projection of $3.50 per Mcf, and delivered industrial gas ≈ $3.30–$7.70 per Mcf.
• Oct 2, 2025

  Microsoft Bets $33B on Neoclouds to Ease AI Crunch

  Microsoft announced a major capacity deal with neocloud Nebius to source AI computing power as part of a broader neocloud strategy.

  • Main action: Microsoft agreed a deal with Nebius Group worth up to $19.4 billion (outlined Sept. 8) to access computing capacity including more than 100,000 Nvidia GB300 chips, enabling Microsoft to run internal large-language-model training and a consumer AI assistant at neocloud facilities and free its own servers to sell AI services. This is part of more than $33 billion in commitments Microsoft has made to neocloud providers (including CoreWeave, Nscale, Lambda).
  • Background and implementation details: The move addresses tight AI data-center capacity and gives Microsoft financial flexibility by shifting some costs to operational expenses (per Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler). Microsoft continues in-house expansion (announced a second phase at its Racine, Wisconsin site to bring utility power capacity to at least 900 megawatts). Deals include regional arrangements (e.g., Nscale for the UK and Norway) and earlier capacity rentals (e.g., Oracle for an AI-infused Bing).
• Sep 27, 2025

  Private equity sees profits in power utilities as electric bills rise and big tech seeks more energy

  BlackRock subsidiary and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have proposed buying Allete, parent of Minnesota Power; the deal faces regulatory review by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission with a potential Oct. 3 vote.

  • Main announcement: A BlackRock subsidiary and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have proposed a buyout of Allete (parent of Minnesota Power) for $6.2 billion (including $67 a share, a 19% premium). The deal impacts a utility serving ~150,000 customers, could influence whether Google builds a data center in the region, and is scheduled for a possible Oct. 3 vote by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Allete projects it will need $4.3 billion for transmission and clean energy projects over five years and says the buyout will not affect electric rates.
  • Background and other details: Private equity and infrastructure investors (including Blackstone) are pursuing multiple utility transactions (eg: bids for Public Service Company of New Mexico and Texas New Mexico Power Co; earlier sales in Wisconsin and a 19.9% stake sale in Northern Indiana). An administrative law judge (Megan J. McKenzie) recommended rejecting the Allete deal, and commission staff warned private investors could leverage the utility with debt to capture higher regulated returns. Opponents (eg: Energy and Policy Institute, state attorney general) cite risks of higher rates; supporters include building trades unions and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration.
• Sep 22, 2025

  The FDI shake-up: How foreign direct investment today may shape industry and trade tomorrow

  MGI published a report analyzing announced greenfield FDI projects (2015–May 2025) and finds a decisive shift of announced investment toward future-shaping industries such as data centers (AI infrastructure), semiconductors, EVs/batteries, critical minerals, and low-emissions energy.

  • Main finding: The report analyzes roughly 180,000–200,000 announced greenfield FDI projects and shows that since 2022 ~75% of cross-border announcements target future-shaping industries and resources; announced annualized greenfield FDI rose from $1,137 billion (2015–19) to $1,407 billion (2022–May 2025), driven largely by megadeals (>$1 billion) that now account for about half of total announced value. Key sector details: data centers ≈ $170 billion/yr (since 2022; could reach >$370 billion if early-2025 pace continues), semiconductor-related ≈ $115 billion/yr to new fabs, low-emissions energy ≈ $330 billion/yr (three-quarters of energy announcements), and announced hydrogen ≈ $160 billion/yr (high uncertainty; few projects in construction).
  • Background and additional details: The shift is geopolitically patterned—advanced economies increased investments among themselves (US attracted large inflows, boosted by Advanced Asia investors), while announced inflows to China fell by nearly 70% relative to the earlier period. About 200 megadeals annually (≈1% of deals) drive most value; examples and specifics: TSMC accounted for roughly $100 billion of early-2025 US-directed announcements, the Calcasieu Parish LNG project cited at $17.5 billion, and several large EV/battery gigafactories with targeted openings in 2025–2026. The report emphasizes that announcements are not firm commitments (historical realization rates vary), cites 60–80% typical realization, and notes many hydrogen megaprojects have not reached construction.
• Sep 16, 2025

  Johnson Controls launches scalable coolant distribution unit for data centers

  Johnson Controls announced the Silent-Aire Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) platform expansion, delivering scalable liquid cooling for high-density data centers and AI hardware.

  • Main announcement: Johnson Controls introduced the Silent-Aire CDU platform scalable from 500 kW to 10 MW cooling capacity, supporting in-row deployments (500 kW–1,050 kW) and whitespace perimeter configurations (up to 10 MW); a 1-MW in-row data sheet shows 1,050 kW cooling on a 21 kW power draw using 25% propylene glycol, and the unit dimensions are 84” H x 35” W x 48” D.
  • Background and details: The company said the Silent-Aire solution — part of a stack that includes York chillers and M&M Carnot equipment — can reduce non-IT energy consumption by more than 50% in most North American data center hubs; the product is pitched to support rising rack densities (7 kW in 2021 to ~12 kW in early 2024, with hyperscale projections toward ~50 kW/rack by 2027) and to serve both edge-based inference sites and larger AI training facilities; Johnson Controls cited collaboration with hyperscale, colocation and semiconductor ecosystem partners, and VP/GM Austin Domenici provided the product statement.
• Jul 16, 2025

  Climate Change Solutions - July 15, 2025

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) recaps recent U.S. climate and energy policy developments, including new legislation, issue briefs, and upcoming events.

  • Reconciliation package (P.L. 119-21) signed into law on July 4, 2025, ending or curtailing tax incentives for energy efficiency, renewables, and electric vehicles.
  • Congressional committees advanced bills on algal bloom mitigation, precision agriculture, coastal data, and wildfire resilience; EESI published briefs on critical minerals, data center water use, and recapped 60 climate-related hearings from May-June 2025.