Wisconsin Data Center Intel

Recent Wisconsin data center news

• Jan 29, 2026

  Madison, Wis. Joins Growing List of Cities Pausing Data Center Development

  The Madison Common Council has approved a one-year moratorium on new large-scale data center development.

  • Scope & duration: The moratorium applies to new data centers and telecommunications centers larger than 10,000 square feet and will remain in effect for one year; existing facilities and smaller data centers are exempt. The city said the pause will allow staff to review zoning rules, electricity and water use, land use planning, and community benefits before approving additional projects.
  • Implementation & context: Planning Division Director Meagan Tuttle described the moratorium as a planning tool to develop clearer standards as demand for computing power (driven by artificial intelligence and cloud services) grows; the city plans to engage utilities, environmental experts, developers, and policymakers during the moratorium. The article also references similar moratoria in other U.S. jurisdictions (Coweta County, Douglas County, Clarke County, Springfield Township, St. Charles).
• Jan 26, 2026

  EPA moves toward changing particulate matter standard as manufacturers urge action

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to revisit and ask the court to vacate the Biden-era annual PM2.5 standard of nine micrograms per cubic meter.

  • Main action: The EPA filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to vacate the March 2024 PM2.5 annual standard (lowered from 12 µg/m3 to 9 µg/m3). The agency said the Biden EPA took a “regulatory shortcut” and failed to adequately consider compliance costs; EPA urged vacatur before the initial nonattainment determinations due on Feb. 7 and states’ implementation plans due in April.
  • Background and details: Industry groups including NAM and 15 trade associations (e.g., SMA, Aluminum Association, American Cement Association) have pressed the Trump administration to revert the standard; EPA previously estimated the 2024 rule could prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, with monetized benefits of $22 billion to $46 billion and $590 million in estimated costs by 2032. A 2025 ACA report estimated 1 million metric tons of cement needed for AI data centers by 2028 and projects U.S. data centers rising from 5,426 to 6,000 by 2027.
• Jan 26, 2026

  Oracle AI Infrastructure in 2026 and Our Commitment to Local Communities

  Oracle has announced its 2026 AI infrastructure buildout and community commitments.

  • Main announcement: Oracle announced AI data center projects in 2026 in partnership with OpenAI, with campuses at two sites in Texas and additional sites in New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Michigan; Oracle commits to funding onsite power and grid upgrades (including onsite transmission lines, battery storage, and dedicated substations) and to use closed-loop non-evaporative cooling so water usage is on par with a typical office building.
  • Background and details: The company states it will pay its own way on energy when required or invest in grid improvements where sharing the grid; sites include extensive landscape screening and setbacks, planned road infrastructure upgrades funded by Oracle, and workforce commitments: tens of thousands employed during construction and thousands during operation (Oracle estimates a ~1 GW site requires more than 1,000 permanent employees).
• Jan 24, 2026

  Environmental Coalition Calls For Pause In Data Center Development

  The Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin has called for a pause on data center development in Wisconsin and released a proposed 10-point framework for regulating large-scale projects, urging the governor and Legislature to adopt it before additional projects proceed.

  • Main announcement: The Clean Economy Coalition of Wisconsin (CECW) asks the state to pause further data center development until a comprehensive framework is adopted; the group released a 10-point policy framework that includes 100% clean energy, planning for future energy infrastructure needs, minimizing water use, community benefits agreements, prevailing wage requirements, and consistent reporting requirements for environmental impact and energy use.
  • Context and specifics: The framework is presented in contrast to a Republican-backed Assembly bill that recently passed the Assembly and would direct the Public Service Commission to prevent residential ratepayers from covering energy infrastructure costs for data centers and require on-site renewable generation at new data centers; critics including State Rep. Robyn Vining called the bill “rushed” and say the renewables-on-property provision could lock centers into fossil-fuel-backed power.
• Jan 23, 2026

  Oracle Advances American AI Innovation and Local Economic Prosperity in New Mexico

  Oracle announced it will be the tenant of Project Jupiter, an AI data center campus in southern New Mexico, and that it will occupy the campus to deploy AI infrastructure for OpenAI.

  • Main announcement and commitments: Oracle will be the tenant of Project Jupiter and will deploy AI infrastructure for OpenAI; the company projects an economic boost of approximately $384 million per year during construction and $113 million per year once operational; it plans $360 million in direct payments to Doña Ana County, $50 million for water system fixes, over $600 million in Gross Revenue Tax payments expected to the State and County, and supplemental community investments of $6.9 million (including a $1.5 million donation to the Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces). Oracle and partners now expect ~4,000 construction jobs and up to 1,500 onsite or county jobs (versus earlier forecasts of 2,500 construction and 750 permanent jobs). Oracle will fund and build a dedicated microgrid, onsite transmission lines, battery storage, and a dedicated substation; installed pollution controls will exceed US EPA’s new standards by 50% or more.
  • Project details and background: The campus will use a closed-loop, non-evaporative cooling system that does not draw from local water supplies (water tanks filled once); daily operational water use will be comparable to a typical office building. Oracle Academy is expanding in New Mexico and partnering with local institutions (New Mexico State University, Doña Ana Community College) for workforce development. The article is an announcement/op-ed by Josh Pitcock (Jan 23, 2026) and contains forward-looking statements referencing Oracle’s SEC filings.
• Jan 22, 2026

  Microsoft Commits to Full Electricity Cost Recovery in Data Center Communities

  Microsoft has announced a “Community-First AI Infrastructure” initiative committing to “paying its way” so AI data center growth does not raise residential utility rates.

  • Main announcement/action: Microsoft will ask utilities and state commissions to set bespoke large-load rates that recover full electricity and infrastructure costs so datacenter electricity costs are not passed to residential customers, will directly fund grid upgrades, pursue efficiency improvements (e.g., liquid cooling, Project Forge scheduler), and advocate for accelerated permitting and interconnection. The announcement was published in a Jan. 13, 2026 policy blog by Brad Smith and cites concrete examples including co-designing a 2016 Large Power Contract Service tariff with Black Hills Energy (Wyoming PSC), supporting We Energies’ March 2025 “Very Large Customer” tariff (Wisconsin), and contracting 7.9 GW of new supply in the MISO footprint.
  • Background and additional details: Microsoft frames the move amid mounting grid constraints (aging transmission, long permitting timelines, supply chain shortages) and contrasts its approach with an E3 study commissioned by Amazon that reports a projected $33,500/MW surplus in 2025 (~$3.4M per 100‑MW site) and $6.1M per 100‑MW by 2030. The article also notes regulatory momentum: FERC’s Dec. 18, 2025 order directing PJM to overhaul co-located large-load rules (tariff filing due Feb. 16, 2026) and a Jan. 15, 2026 PJM governors’ Statement of Principles calling for large-load cost-sharing and a reliability backstop auction by September 2026.
• Jan 21, 2026

  Silicon Valley’s AI boom is an environmental time bomb

  Tina Landis (Liberation News) publishes an opinion piece arguing that Big Tech’s rapid expansion of AI-driven hyperscale data centers is creating severe, measurable environmental harms in the United States and globally.

  • Main claim & evidence: The article documents hyperscale data center environmental impacts including freshwater use up to five million gallons per day, energy consumption currently equivalent to France, projected growth to the energy use of 1.4 billion people by 2030 (IMF), and that 20 data center proposals worth $98 billion were blocked or delayed between April and June 2025 (Data Center Watch). It also cites a UNEP warning: “We need to make sure the net effect of AI on the planet is positive before we deploy the technology at scale.”
  • Background & supporting details: The piece lists concrete harms across the lifecycle: raw material extraction (800 kg of materials for a 2 kg computer), e-waste exports to the Global South, 5–10% increases in household energy bills, community resistance across multiple U.S. states (Arizona, Wisconsin, Virginia, Oklahoma), and notes Big Tech (Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon) is spending collectively hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers while pushing for expanded power infrastructure and nuclear expansion by 2050.
• Jan 21, 2026

  ERMCO Expands Transformer Manufacturing West with New Arizona Facility

  ERMCO announced it will open a new 566,121-square-foot three-phase transformer manufacturing facility in Waddell, Maricopa County, Arizona.

  • Facility details: The plant is 566,121 square feet, located in Waddell (≈30 miles west of Phoenix), will focus on three-phase transformer production, is expected to be operational in 2027, and foundational work will begin this year; the project is expected to create more than 500 jobs in engineering, skilled trades, and operations.
  • Context and justification: The announcement cites ongoing transformer supply shortages, drivers such as aging grid infrastructure, rapid load growth from data centers and electrification, and states site selection was influenced by proximity to Western U.S. customers, Arizona’s business climate, and a skilled labor market. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. and currently employs nearly 3,500 workers across facilities in Tennessee, Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas, Quebec, and Mexico.
• Jan 20, 2026

  Moody’s: $3 Trillion Data Center Investment by 2030 Amid Power Challenges

  Moody’s Ratings has released its 2026 outlook for global data center infrastructure projecting major investment and highlighting power and AI-related risks.

  • Main announcement: Moody’s projects at least $3 trillion in global data center infrastructure investment over the next five years, forecasts global data center electricity consumption to reach ~600 TWh in 2026 (up from 525 TWh in 2025), and estimates the six largest hyperscalers in the US will spend $500 billion in capex in 2026, rising to $600 billion in 2027. The outlook also flags a potential AI investment bubble and rising construction and operating costs due to labor, commodities, and equipment constraints.
  • Background and details: Moody’s notes key constraints and responses: power availability (DOE projects AI could account for 9% of US electricity demand by 2030), reliance on pre-leased capacity to large tech tenants increasing counterparty concentration, developers’ short-term use of behind-the-meter generation, medium-term contracts for new generation and transmission, and long-term interest in emerging technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs). The report includes comments from Moody’s senior VPs John Medina and Raj Joshi on lease risk allocation and diversification strategies.
• Jan 20, 2026

  Google sees CO2 batteries as large-scale way to store renewable energy

  Google has announced it is commissioning construction of CO2 batteries to provide green, reliable backup power for its major data centers in the United States, Europe and parts of Asia, and has made an equity investment in Energy Dome.

  • Main announcement/action: Google is commissioning construction of CO2 battery units with Milan-based Energy Dome and has made an equity investment in the company; Energy Dome’s Ottana, Sardinia facility is storing 2,000 tons of CO2, can deliver 200 MWh (20 MW over 10 hours), the expandable dome requires ~5 acres, the Sardinia facility was built in <2 years and dome inflation took <0.5 day.
  • Background and details: The tech is positioned as a longer-duration alternative to lithium-ion (typical lithium-ion backup: 4–8 hours); Energy Dome says expected lifetime is nearly three times that of lithium-ion and expects it to be ~30% cheaper; Alliant Energy has regulatory approval to begin construction of a CO2 battery in Wisconsin to supply 18,000 homes; potential local opposition noted due to stadium-height dome and risk of CO2 release (Energy Dome describes releases as negligible).