Vice President JD Vance was in Plover Thursday, campaigning for Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden in an effort to hang on to the GOP's slim majority in the U.S. House.
The post JD Vance stumps for Derrick Van Orden, Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin campaign event appeared first on WPR.
A new poll shows former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has more name recognition than any other candidate for governor, but he isn't Democratic voters' clear first choice.
The post Marquette poll: Hong, Barnes top Democratic primary for governor, but most voters undecided appeared first on WPR.
A pair of Republican state lawmakers wants to bring the death penalty back to Wisconsin for the first time in more than 170 years. It would be reserved for those convicted of certain sexual assaults against children under 13 years old.
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Since 2024, there's been a bit of a migration into northern Wisconsin's sprawling 7th Congressional District by people hoping to represent its residents in Washington D.C. Voter registration records show half of the eight candidates running to succeed Republican Tom Tiffany of Minocqua recently listed primary voting addresses outside the 7th district and even outside Wisconsin.
The post Half the candidates for Wisconsin House seat recently lived outside district or state appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin voters will be asked whether the state's constitution should be amended to prevent the governor's powerful partial veto from increasing taxes or fees.
The post Republicans send โ400-year vetoโ constitutional amendment to voters appeared first on WPR.
In a bipartisan about face, the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill Wednesday that includes nearly $600,000 in funding for WisconsinEye, the state's version of C-SPAN.
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Whether Democratic Gov. Tony Evers can get onboard remains an open question.
The post In talks with Evers, Wisconsin GOP leaders back $2.3B plan to spend down surplus appeared first on WPR.
Time is running out for efforts to keep WisconsinEye โ Wisconsin's version of C-SPAN โ on the air.
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Two years ago, Republican Paul Wassgren was involved in a $44 million settlement ending a class action lawsuit in which investors alleged the Florida-based company Wassgren represented orchestrated a "Ponzi scheme" that raised more than $170 million.
The post Wisconsin GOP congressional candidate named in $44M settlement of alleged โPonzi schemeโ lawsuit appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin Senate Republicans passed a series of bills Wednesday aimed at restricting gender transition surgeries for minors and which sports teams transgender students can join.
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Wisconsin lawmakers have released $10 million to help construct a new mental health and substance abuse treatment center in western Wisconsin.
The post Lawmakers approve $10M for western Wisconsin mental health and treatment facility appeared first on WPR.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson says he doesn't agree with President Donald Trump's call for Republicans to "take over" elections in up to 15 states, but setting standards like proof of citizenship for federal elections is "fitting and proper."
The post Wisconsin US Sen. Ron Johnson opposes Trumpโs call for Republicans to โtake overโ elections appeared first on WPR.
Eau Claire Democrat Rebecca Cooke has outraised Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden for the first time in Wisconsin's hotly contested 3rd Congressional District race.
The post Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke outraises US Rep. Derrick Van Orden appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin's Supreme Court candidates have different opinions about the role state courts should in disputes involving federal immigration agents.
The post Supreme Court candidates differ on state courtsโ role in federal immigration disputes appeared first on WPR.
Some Wisconsin gun rights advocates are uneasy about claims from President Donald Trump and his administration that people can't carry guns during protests.
The post Wisconsin gun rights advocates uneasy with Trump comments after Pretti killing appeared first on WPR.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "needs to be fired or resign" following the fatal shooting of two Minnesota residents by federal immigration agents.
The post Tammy Baldwin says Kristi Noem should be fired over fatal shootings by federal agents appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans both say they're fighting for control of the full state Legislature, but recent fundraising suggests they may each have a favorite chamber.
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A Waukesha County resident has tested positive for measles, making it the first case in Wisconsin this year.
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Anticipated spikes in demand for energy to supply Wisconsinโs data center building boom come on the heels of decades of declining power and water use, according to a new report.
Aย Wisconsin Policy Forum analysisย shows there are more than 40 data centers operating in Wisconsin with another four planned. The sprawling facilities host computer servers, which store data and support a global surge in the use of artificial intelligence.
The data center building boom has been met by local opposition groups concerned about the facilitiesโ resource needs. But the Policy Forum report shows itโs all happening after years of declines in demand for electricity and water.
Using projections submitted to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission by utility companies, the Policy Forum estimates the stateโs peak electrical demand is expected to increase to around 17 gigawatts by 2030, driven largely by data centers. In 2024, Wisconsinโs peak demand was rated at 14.6 gigawatts. Over the past 20 years, total electricity sales have fallen by 9% over the past 20 years.
Wisconsin Policy Forum Senior Research Associate Tyler Byrnes told WPR a big part of the decline since 2005 is due to fewer commercial customers paired with more energy efficiency measures. He said during that span, utilities have pulled aging, coal-fired power plants offline and shifted toward more renewable energy.ย
โInto that landscape, now weโre seeing these really big data centers come online,โ said Byrnes.
Some utilities in Wisconsin are expected to seek state permission to build new power plants or expand existing ones to meet the data center demand. Byrnes said that will bring a need for more transmission lines, though local impacts will vary depending on where the data centers are located.
The Policy Forumโs analysis shows most existing facilities are in south central and southeastern Wisconsin. With other large-scale data centers planned for more rural areas like Beaver Dam and DeForest, he said utility companies may need to build out more infrastructure.
Another major concern raised during the data center debate is the facilitiesโ hefty water demands.
Opponents have complained that developers havenโt been transparent about how much water theyโll need to cool computer servers. In September, environmental advocates sued the city of Racineย to force the release of projected water needsย of a $3.3 billion data center campus located at the former Foxconn site in Mount Pleasant. The city released figures showingย the project will need more than 8 million gallonsย of water per year.ย
To put that into context, the Policy Forum looked at historical water sales reported by the Racine Water Works, which will supply the Mount Pleasant data center project. Between 1997 and 2022, the utility saw water sales decline by 2.1 billion gallons annually. Byrnes said that taken as a whole, the demand for water from data centers is โa drop in the bucketโ in a lot of cases.
As with electrical demand, Byrnes said water demand has decreased due to fewer industrial customers and increased efficiency efforts. Because cities like Racine still need to maintain the same level of infrastructure, which is more expensive due to inflation, the revenue from each gallon of water sold has to be spread further. That means potential rate increases.
Byrnes said data centers have been turning to closed-loop cooling systems, which use less water, but cities like Racine would still be selling more water, which would help cover fixed infrastructure costs.ย
โPotentially, it could maybe blunt some of the (water rate) increases,โ Byrnes said.ย
With the rise in data center developments in Wisconsin, local governments and state lawmakers are working to figure out how to regulate them.
The DeForest Village Board recentlyย took no actionย on a citizen petition calling for referendum votes before any data center project could be approved.
In Menomonie, the city council votedย to restrict where and how data centers can be builtย months after the mayorย halted a $1.6 billion proposal. A similar zoning ordinance is being considered in the city of Jefferson.
ย
At the same time, Republican and Democratic state lawmakers have proposed different ways to regulate data centers. Oneย GOP billย is aimed at ensuring data centers and not other customers would pay for any required improvements to the stateโs power grid. Theย Democratic billย is aimed at requiring data centers to get the bulk of their power from renewable sources.
This story wasย originally published by WPR.
Data center boom follows decades of declining electricity and water use in Wisconsin is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
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