In 2025 and beyond, one of the most consequential issues facing Wisconsin’s energy future is the wave of AI data centers proposed by companies like Microsoft, OpenAI and other hyperscaler tech companies.
These facilities demand massive amounts of electricity, with just one using as much power as an entire city. The scale is daunting: It took We Energies 125 years to have a system that went from 0 to 5 gigawatts. And in recent weeks the utility has announced plans for 3 more GW of power. The utility’s parent company is now forecasting its whole system could double in size — just to serve two data centers, one in Racine County and one in Port Washington.
While utilities stand to profit for decades from such projects, CUB is asking the tough questions: How many of these data centers will actually materialize? And if they do, can we ensure Wisconsin utility customers — not billion-dollar tech companies — don’t end up footing the bill for new plants and power lines?
We’re urging the Public Service Commission to closely examine these proposals to prevent unnecessary overbuilding and to protect consumers from long-term costs tied to infrastructure that may become obsolete.
Wisconsin should join other states and adopt integrated resource planning processes that craft a coherent well thought out road map for the energy transition. Without that, our energy system is careening down the highway without the benefit of GPS — or even a map!
The CUB team is actively engaged in state and national conversations about data centers and utility affordability. Check out the links below to find news coverage, op-eds, videos, helpful links and PSC case information for the cases we’re working on as your utility watchdog!
RECENT NEWS COVERAGE
December 2025 – Harper’s Magazine: What’s really behind your soaring utility bills
December 15, 2025 – Wisconsin Newspaper Association: Energy costs loom as a 2026 campaign issue
December 15, 2025 – Civic Media: Data Centers Are Coming and Utility Customers Could Pay the Price
November 12, 2025 – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: We Energies plans $5 billion in new energy projects as demand spikes
October 17, 2025 – Wisconsin Public Radio: $1.4B transmission line project proposed for Port Washington data center
September 29, 2025 – Bloomberg News: AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring
May 15, 2025 – Wisconsin Public Radio Four-Part Series
- What are data centers? Wisconsin cities’ potential new neighbors, explained
- Power-hungry data centers are prompting new gas plant proposals. Critics say that would lock in pollution and higher costs for decades
- Local leaders see data centers as revenue boon, but critics say subsidy programs undermine those efforts
- Microsoft built 5 data center campuses in this Iowa city. Here’s what Wisconsin can expect.
May 2, 2025 – Wisconsin Watch: Data center construction is booming, and it could affect utility rates
PERSPECTIVES ON DATA CENTERS
October 11, 2025 – Krisin Brey Column, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Data centers have sprung up across Wisconsin creating odd political fault lines
September 23, 2025 – Bruce Murphy Column, Urban Milwaukee: Murphy’s Law: Will Data Centers Gobble Up Wisconsin?
June 20, 2025 – Customers First: May Power Breakfast on Data Centers – See the Podcast Video
July 23, 2025 – Maria Chavez, Union of Concerned Scientists: Who Really Pays for Data Centers Powered By Fossil Fuels?
August 22, 2025 – From America’s Dairyland to America’s Motherboard: Wisconsin Comedian Charlie Berens Weighs In: YouTube video
PSC CASES WHERE CUB IS WEIGHING IN
PSC Case Involving We Energies tariff for data centers, including Microsoft in Racine County and Vantage/Cloverleaf in Port Washington; PSC Docket 6630-TE-113
PSC Case Involving Alliant Energy contract for data center in Beaver Dam: PSC Docket 6680-TE-115
REPORTS
September 29, 2025 – Union of Concerned Scientists Report: Billions of Dollars in Unreported Data Center Costs PJM
July 2025 – Critical Consumer Issues Forum July 2025 report urging data centers to put “downward pressure on rates”: Demand Growth and Risk Management
April 2025 – ACEEE Data Centers White Paper: Future-Proof AI Data Centers, Grid Reliability and Affordable Energy
March 5, 2025 – Harvard University Report: Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers Are Paying for Big Tech’s Power