WISCONSIN RAPIDS − Tensions and emotions were running high when PNK Group, the developer of a proposed data center in the city, held a public meeting the morning of Aug. 1 at McMillan Memorial Library.
Originally set to take place in the 80-person capacity All-Purpose Room, seats quickly filled with interested residents 30 minutes before its scheduled start time. It was then moved to the library’s 248-person capacity Fine Arts Center and by 11 a.m. had a standing-room-only crowd.
Prior to the meeting more than 50 people gathered outside the library with signs protesting the project as well. Their signs included messages such as “Protect our river and wildlife. No data center in our city”; “Data centers fuel climate change. Wisconsin Rapids deserves better”; “Data centers are parasites on our natural resources”; and “PNK GO AWAY.”
Anton Voronkin, PNK Group’s chief development officer, and former New York City Mayor Eric Adams led the meeting and were frequently greeted with boos, heckling and chants from those in the audience.
Adams started the meeting by talking about his involvement in the project, stating he was hired to be part of the team and help lead these types of community conversations.
A young man from the crowd asked Adams why he became a spokesperson for PNK and this project and why he thought he was the right person for the job after allegations of corruption and bribery in his past.
“I realized that we are going to have data centers in our country, so why can’t we have it that’s not harmful to our environment, why can’t we have it that’s not going to be destructive,” Adams responded. “When I sat down with PNK, I said here are the things that I’ve heard around the country as the mayor, and others, that when people have issues with data centers poisoning the water, the heat issues, the noise issues, all of those issues. So, we created a project that answers the questions that people had concerns about. That’s why I joined PNK, because it answered those questions.”
During the two-hour meeting residents’ questions centered on concerns with increased heat around the facility and in the nearby Wisconsin River, increased water use by the facility, discharge into the Wisconsin River and the city’s sewer system, the use of diesel generators, increase electrical costs for residents, noise issues created by the facility itself and its generators, and more.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the meeting.
Proposed data center would use ‘new technologies’
Voronkin introduced himself by telling residents how the proposed Wisconsin Rapids facility would use “new technologies” and would avoid many of the issues and concerns associated with “old data centers.”
Many residents questioned if PNK Group has built an exact or similar facility to the one proposed in Wisconsin Rapids previously. Voronkin responded, “No.”
“If you have one good example of the design you are proposing and the community embraced it, you would not have this, at all,” a man in the audience said, referencing community opposition. “And you would find, at least, a willingness to listen. But it’s always difficult to be the first because of the uncertainty.”
“We are not an experiment,” a woman in the crowd said in response.
Voronkin did add that technical documents exist that show (the new technologies) but he did not have that information available at Saturday’s meeting.
“We saw problems with the other data centers and we tried to figure out how to make it better. How do we build a better product,” Voronkin said.
“This is an industrial zone. We are not asking to rezone it. This is already heavy industrial. We are proposing a clean, safe and quiet solution for how to use this land,” Voronkin told the audience. “We are building the data center and it is really important for us to be a community member and be a good neighbor.”
The future data center tenant is unknown
One resident questioned what the data center would be used for, as the future tenant of the facility is not yet know.
Voronkin said PNK Group does have potential tenants for the proposed facility, but said he could not name them as they have nondisclosure agreements with those potential tenants. Until a lease is signed with a tenant, they would not be able to share any further information on the tenant or the tenant’s plans for the facility.
When questioned about the unknown tenant and what their purpose would be for the facility, Voronkin said PNK Group would be able to select the tenant for 10-15 years.
“This is definitely not a crypto mining facility,” Voronkin said in response to a question. “It’s either the Cloud services or AI or a combination of it. It’s not [a] cryptocurrency facility, for sure.”
Voronkin said PNK Group will not seek a tax incremental finance district or other tax incentives as part of the project, but he could not guarantee that the future tenant would not.
PNK Group promises 50-150 permanent jobs
Voronkin agreed that data centers don’t create a lot of jobs in the communities where they are built but said that the proposed Wisconsin Rapids facility would create 50 to 150 permanent jobs.
He did not answer repeated questions from those in the audience about the types of jobs that would be created, the pay for workers and how the Wisconsin Rapids facility would employ so many people when other similar facilities employ far fewer permanent workers.
He also stated it would create a number of “temporary permanent jobs” as renovations at the data center are ongoing and those workers would stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants to boost the economy.
Residents question data center’s water use
There were many questions about the amount of water the facility would use, the closed-loop cooling system proposed for the facility and how the data center would impact the Wisconsin River and nearby wells.
“We are not touching (the Wisconsin River),” Voronkin repeated several times during the meeting, adding that the facility would not use water from the river or discharge any chemicals into the river.
“I saw the signs on the water consumption; we are not consuming the water. It’s a closed-loop system. We are applying for 10,000 gallons per day,” Voronkin said referencing signs in the audience and the amount of water they plan to use, based on the submitted conditional use permit application.
Voronkin also promised to release a configuration of the closed-loop cooling system that would be used for the proposed development.
After several people in the audience raised concerns about their wells drying up, Voronkin said the project would have no impact on local wells but “guaranteed” that PNK Group would address and cover it if that did occur.
‘We just love our community’
Voronkin promised additional meetings would be held in the future and he would provide answers to questions he was unable to answer at Saturday’s meeting.
One man in the audience called out state leaders for granting “substantial” state tax and use concessions to the data center industry but not passing any bill that set guidelines for development in the state. A number of bills were proposed but those died in committee, he said.
“It’s really our legislators who have done us a disservice by not addressing this and therefore the burden goes onto the community, and the community is overwhelmed,” the man said to Voronkin. “The mayor and all … they can’t address all of these very, very, very important concerns. They just don’t have the staff. We look to our government to help us, and they are not doing it and as a result you are being accosted by all the concerns that are not being addressed by our state government, the DNR … the departments who would be able to address our concerns.”
Some in the audience called for a pause on the project and others asked Voronkin if PNK Group would back off the project if a referendum showed the community did not support the data center.
“We aren’t afraid of technology,” one man in the crowd said in response to a claim by Adams at the beginning of the meeting. “We just love our community.”
Editor Jamie Rokus can be reached at jrokus@usatodayco.com or follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @Jamie_Rokus.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: WI Rapids residents press for answers at heated data center meeting
Reporting by Jamie Rokus, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune / Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jamie Rokus, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune | USA TODAY Network
