The Wisconsin DNR will conduct environmental impact assessments of future data centers and review their statewide resource use, following a lawsuit by the Sierra Club and MEA. Statewide energy demand is projected to rise 40% in six years.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a group of environmental organizations announced a settlement agreement Monday that will require stricter environmental impact assessments of future data center projects and launch a statewide review of how these facilities use the state's resources.
The agreement stems from a lawsuit filed in June by the Sierra Club and Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) in Ozaukee County court, in which they argued that the agency approved permits for Vantage's massive data center under construction in Port Washington without preparing an adequate environmental impact statement.
"AI data centers are massive, thirsty, energy hogs and have popped up all over Wisconsin," Elizabeth Ward, director of the Wisconsin chapter of the Sierra Club, said in a statement. "They could completely change our landscape and use unprecedented amounts of water and energy. Wisconsinites and our regulators need to understand the impacts and opportunities to reduce harm before allowing data centers to move forward. Wisconsinites deserve an informed, transparent process for decisions that could shape their communities and environment for decades."
A report by the state Public Service Commission published this summer concluded that the Port Washington data center and the facilities Microsoft is building in Mount Pleasant and Meta in Beaver Dam will be responsible for a 40% increase in statewide energy demand over the next six years.
As part of the settlement, the DNR will conduct full environmental impact statements for each individual data center proposal going forward and complete a statewide strategic analysis of how these facilities consume resources.
State law and the DNR's administrative rules allow the agency to conduct this type of analysis when conflicts arise over resource demand regarding "a complicated or complex issue; an issue that is new to the state; an issue or policy that will likely lead to future department actions that will require an environmental impact statement; issues for which there is a high potential for legislation or new department policy, and the planning and development of controversial resource-oriented projects."
"What started as a lawsuit over the environmental review of one data center has become an opportunity to address the data center issue on a much bigger scale," MEA attorney Michael Greif said. "Looking at these impacts holistically is important because the impacts of data centers are statewide. State regulators will now have to examine the cumulative impacts of data center development across Wisconsin."
Wisconsin thus joins a small group of states assessing the statewide impact of data centers on their resources. In July, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order that initiated a similar analysis, and last December the Maryland Legislature enacted a law requiring several state agencies to study "the likely environmental, energy, and economic impacts of data center development."
