MONROE, WIS. (EXCERPTS FROM THEMONROETIMES.COM): Nationwide and in Wisconsin communities like Monroe, data centers and their impact on communities and the environment are making headlines.
Many of the proposed locations are in rural areas, and Wisconsin’s climate and access to infrastructure have been cited as a reason for peak interest here among tech companies seeking to build. While some communities have welcomed any economic development, others have decided the costs are too high for data centers — demand for water and electricity chief among the issues.
Some have criticized data center projects for either not following through on the number of promised jobs; or of having little impact on local employment once the facilities are built, and up and running.
Communities like Monroe are scrambling to understand other issues–either before a data center proposal comes their way, or in an effort to respond to one.
A report prepared for Monroe by Vandewalle & Associates states that options available to the city related to data centers include regulating or banning them through the zoning code; or taking the county’s approach of a moratorium on data center proposals.
The Vandewalle report also notes that data centers need access to an electric transmission line with a capacity of 69 KV and the area does appear to have such access. According to the report, large data centers can use up to 555,000 gallons of water a day. They typically require 0.5 to 1.5 acres per megawatt of power produced — meaning a 500 MW center would require at least 250 acres of land. (Meta’s data center in Beaver Dam is 525 acres).
In a recent presentation, Vandewalle & Associates Associate Planner Shannon Hayden advised the community that Monroe is in a good position when it comes to regulating data centers. But the city should act now to control the future of its available land.