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seeking anything.
>> All right. Judge Lazar,

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thanks for your time.
>> Thank you very much. It

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was a pleasure.
>> A large scale data

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center in the village of
DeForest was rejected this

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week. It's an example of
the push pull between local

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communities and tech
companies, with their ever

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increasing demands to store
and process huge amounts of

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data, especially in the age
of artificial intelligence.

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As Steven Potter reports,
opposition from DeForest

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residents left the village
board with a difficult

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decision to announce.
>> Some of you might feel

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very victorious tonight.
Others are feeling a great

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loss.
>> When residents in the

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DeForest area first heard
that a large scale data

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center was being planned
for farmland just outside

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their village. They were
not happy about it.

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>> I picked this spot 40
years ago to live because

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it was so remote. I never
thought we'd be faced with

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something like this.
>> Nancy Roth was one of

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the residents who opposed
the sprawling 1600 acre and

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$12 billion development
proposed by technology

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company data centers. They
worried that the data

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center may damage natural
resources and tear apart

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the tranquility of their
rural landscape.

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>> We want to live in a
farming community, not next

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to a concrete walled data
center.

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>> So Roth and others went
to work. They organized

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residents printed yard
signs, created an online

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community, and voiced their
opposition at numerous town

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and village board meetings.
And just this week, after

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months of expressing their
outrage.

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>> We're at a point where
we can finally make a vote.

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>> Those opposed to the
DeForest Data Center were

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able to claim victory when
the village board voted

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unanimously against the
data center plan.

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>> Yes, to reject AQ.
>> With that rejection of

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the proposal from the
village of DeForest has now

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formally withdrawn from the
project. This kind of

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conflict, which hinges on
the local control of land

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and resources, has been
repeating itself around the

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state. Here's what happens.
A large scale data center

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00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:09,730
gets proposed. Residents
get upset and voice their

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opposition. And then local
officials take notice of

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the outrage and put an end
to the project. Or the data

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center company itself
decides to pull out. Other

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proposed data centers that
have been nixed recently

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include one in Brown County
and another in Racine

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County, and the city
councils of both Menominee

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and Madison have passed
restrictions on data

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centers being built there.
>> The data center industry,

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especially at this scale,
it's new, right? And any

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time there's something of
this magnitude that's new,

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it's scary.
>> Tricia Braun is with the

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Wisconsin Data Center
Coalition, which advocates

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for these developments to
boost the state's economy.

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She says that our ever
growing need for more

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information, more
entertainment and more

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innovation, including and
especially with the use of

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artificial intelligence, is
what's driving demand.

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>> Whether you're on your
phone, your live streaming

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TV, your manufacturer
that's automating your

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processes, your regular
company that just decides

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to move its server offline
or to the cloud, all of

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that needs to be stored
somewhere. That's where

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data centers come in.
>> Some large scale data

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centers house only one
company, which is the case

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for the Beaver Dam Data
Center being built right

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now by meta and the
Microsoft Data Center,

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under construction in Mount
Pleasant. But Braun says

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smaller and midsize
companies are clients, too.

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>> Whether it's insurance
companies, financial

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institutions, just general
businesses can be some of

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these tenants when it comes
to something that is

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changing this fast. And as
you know, we're all doing

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more with technology every
day. The demand is

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increasing.
>> According to research

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from the Brookings
Institute, there are more

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than 5000 data centers
operating in the United

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States. That's ten times
more than any other country.

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There are around 50 data
centers here in Wisconsin,

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00:03:58,105 --> 00:04:00,674
at least for now. But if
technology companies get

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their way, there may be
several more of them here

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00:04:03,644 --> 00:04:05,846
soon. And some of them will
be the hyperscale sized

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00:04:05,913 --> 00:04:09,550
data centers that span
hundreds of acres and cost

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00:04:09,616 --> 00:04:12,853
billions of dollars. Data
center companies find

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Wisconsin appealing because
of available land, energy,

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and a favorable,
particularly cooler climate.

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Currently, data centers are
being proposed in Rock

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00:04:21,862 --> 00:04:25,332
County, Ozaukee County,
Wood County, and Kenosha

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00:04:25,399 --> 00:04:29,002
County, and although Qt's
withdrew its bid for

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00:04:29,069 --> 00:04:31,038
DeForest, the company says
they may explore other

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locations in Wisconsin.
>> I think digital

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00:04:34,241 --> 00:04:36,743
infrastructure is critical
to our economy and critical

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00:04:36,810 --> 00:04:39,713
to national security, and
it has to get built

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somewhere.
>> State lawmakers are also

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00:04:41,715 --> 00:04:44,251
getting involved in data
center regulation.

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00:04:44,318 --> 00:04:47,321
>> We need to be
competitive in this space.

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00:04:47,387 --> 00:04:49,556
>> Mark Born, a Republican
in the state assembly,

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00:04:49,623 --> 00:04:52,526
represents Beaver Dam,
where social media company

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00:04:52,593 --> 00:04:55,796
meta is building a $1
billion, 700 zero zero zero

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00:04:55,863 --> 00:04:59,233
square foot data center.
>> This is the future. And

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00:04:59,299 --> 00:05:01,702
why shouldn't Wisconsin
communities benefit from

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00:05:01,768 --> 00:05:03,704
some of the economic
development that comes from

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00:05:03,770 --> 00:05:06,006
that?
>> While he is in favor of

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00:05:06,073 --> 00:05:08,242
these developments, Bourne
also wants to make sure

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00:05:08,308 --> 00:05:10,277
that data centers don't
lead to higher electrical

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00:05:10,344 --> 00:05:12,946
bills for local residents
and that the state's water

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00:05:13,013 --> 00:05:16,049
supply is protected. He's a
lead author of legislation

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00:05:16,116 --> 00:05:18,652
that aims to regulate data
centers.

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00:05:18,719 --> 00:05:20,554
>> Ratepayers should be
protected. We should be

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00:05:20,621 --> 00:05:23,257
protecting our natural
resources.

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00:05:23,323 --> 00:05:25,259
>> Democratic State
Representative Angela

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00:05:25,325 --> 00:05:28,295
Stroud of Ashland, says the
Republican bill doesn't go

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00:05:28,362 --> 00:05:31,064
far enough. She wants to
see more rules around

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00:05:31,131 --> 00:05:34,768
renewable energy fees and
labor. And if data center

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00:05:34,835 --> 00:05:37,905
developers don't meet those
requirements.

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00:05:37,971 --> 00:05:40,874
not be well suited for the
state. And I think we

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00:05:40,941 --> 00:05:43,810
should be willing to admit
that and say, fine, then

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00:05:43,877 --> 00:05:46,747
we're not the place for you.
But if we can achieve those

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00:05:46,813 --> 00:05:48,782
things, which we can with
smart regulation, we need

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00:05:48,849 --> 00:05:50,651
to get something done.
>> Regulation is a sticky

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00:05:50,717 --> 00:05:53,820
topic for data center
proponents.

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00:05:53,887 --> 00:05:58,225
very careful about what is
put into place as far as

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00:05:58,292 --> 00:06:01,495
rules, restrictions,
regulations to make sure

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00:06:01,562 --> 00:06:04,231
that those unintended
consequences aren't an

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00:06:04,298 --> 00:06:06,967
overall detriment to future
development.

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00:06:07,034 --> 00:06:09,303
>> While the future of data
centers in Wisconsin

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00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:12,739
remains a case by case
situation, proponents say

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00:06:12,806 --> 00:06:16,343
the need for more and more
computing power and data

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00:06:16,410 --> 00:06:19,479
storage is undeniable. But
for now, it remains an

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00:06:19,546 --> 00:06:22,549
exercise in compromise
between data center

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00:06:22,616 --> 00:06:25,686
developers, local residents,
municipal government and

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00:06:25,752 --> 00:06:31,091
state lawmakers. Reporting
state lawmakers. Reporting