OSHKOSH – Winnebago County appears to be next in line.
Yet another Wisconsin government could be putting a pause on the possible development of data centers in the region, with Winnebago County looking to draft language for a 12-month moratorium on the hyperscale AI facilities.
County Executive Gordon Hintz made the announcement during the June 17 Winnebago County Board meeting amid growing state and national concerns about data centers’ impact on energy use, water consumption and infrastructure strain.
Revealing that the county hasn’t been approached for the development of a data center, Hintz said the proposal will be discussed at the Planning and Zoning Committee next month prior to the county board voting on a possible moratorium.
“A moratorium is not a judgment on whether data centers are good or bad, not a prohibition on future development, and not a halt to existing facility,” Hintz told the county board. “It is simply a measure to ensure that thoughtful, well-informed policymaking and regulations are in place on our terms as a county before applications are submitted.”
How do moratoria work?
If drafted and passed, the moratorium would temporarily pause construction, permitting or any approval of a new data center, giving the county board a year to update zoning laws and enact regulations governing the facilities.
Wisconsin State Statute 66.1002 allows municipalities to enact development moratoria, providing the legal framework and timeframes to temporarily halt rezoning and land division.
Development moratoria may only be in effect for a year, but municipalities may extend the ordinance for another six months if the governing body “determines that such an extension is necessary to address the problem.”
But that statute does not address counties while 59.69(4) specifically states a county board “may not enact a development moratorium, as defined in s. 66.1002 (1) (b).”
Have other Wisconsin counties passed data center moratoria?
Manitowoc and Dane counties both recently passed 18-month data center moratoria within months of one another while the city of Sheboygan approved drafting a moratorium proposal last month.
Hintz also acknowledged that a likely moratorium would only impact the four townships — Algoma, Omro, Neenah and Nekimi — where the county is authorized to do general zoning.
Cities like Oshkosh, Neenah and Menasha, along with the villages and other townships, would need to adopt their own regulations regarding data centers.
According to Hintz, the plan is to work with those municipalities to have aligned frameworks during that 12-month moratorium period.
Why are people opposed to hyperscale data centers?
Specialized IT facilities designed to run artificial intelligence models, hyperscale data centers typically run more than 10,000 square feet in size, housing more than 5,000 servers and using in excess of 50 megawatts.
That high energy usage can strain power grids and may result in higher electricity rates for homeowners.
Advocates also point to these facilities’ potential for massive water consumption to cool those servers, citing additional concerns about noise and air pollution created by diesel generators.
“We might think that we get big tax benefits from these data centers, but when you look at the amount of land that they take up and the small numbers of people that they employ, I don’t feel like the financial gain outweighs that,” one resident said during the public comment section of the meeting.
District 24 Supervisor Andy Buck pushed back on the potential economic impact of a data center in Winnebago County while saying he wouldn’t support a moratorium.
“I think everybody can win, but I think we need to talk about the truth on this matter,” Buck said while saying he was “fortunate” to tour the Microsoft Date Center Campus in Mount Pleasant.
Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @justinmarville.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Winnebago County weighs 12-month pause on data centers
Reporting by Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern / Oshkosh Northwestern
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern | USA TODAY Network
