PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wisconsin has become a hot spot for data center development, causing strong reactions from those who are both for and against the centers.
“These are big issues and big questions that need to be answered," said Thomas Content, the executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, Inc.
A panel was held Tuesday night by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, to discuss where the developments stand now and what this could mean for residents in the long run.
“The biggest thing that stands out to me is just the energy use," said Tyler Brynes, a senior research associate with the Wisconsin Policy Forum. "One of these data centers could use up to 1.5% of the energy that we sell in a year, in just one facility.”
Brynes says right now, the state already has 40 data centers up and running.
To fuel major companies' data center developments, We Energies says they've had to make billions of dollars' worth of upgrades.
The big question among residents is who will pay for all that extra energy.
"We’ve developed a proposal, our customer protection plan, that ensures that when they come to Wisconsin, they’ll be paying for all the generation and wires to serve them," said Bert Garvin, the We Energies executive vice president for external affairs. "Those costs will not be paid for by our non-data center customers.”
However, Thomas Content, with the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin, says he has his doubts that in the end, all of the costs will fall on the tech companies.
“What We Energies has proposed has a lot of loopholes that need to be plugged," said Content. "Some gaps that need to be filled by our regulators. So, we hope there will be a show of force at these public hearings to kind of encourage the PSC to be on the side of the customer.”
Content says a lot of development factors need to be considered.
"We are at risk of customers paying for powerlines instead of the tech companies, and we are at risk of customers paying for new power plants as well," said Content.
There will be a Public Service Commission (PSC) public hearing meeting for residents to voice their concerns on Feb. 10.