To clear the air: we are not opposed to "datacenters" per se. Each one should be examined on its own merits and demerits. That said, the slime-scuzzy practices outlined here should prevent any such proposal from going forward.
...They arrive a year early, force your mayor to sign a secret NDA, and quietly rig the local zoning laws. By the time you find out about the hyperscale data center, it's already too late. ...
...These agreements frequently prohibit disclosing the existence of the project, the company’s identity, scale (e.g., power demand in MW, number of buildings, water usage), or even the NDA itself in some cases. Officials sometimes sign to “stay in the room” for negotiations or incentives, or under pressure that transparency could scare away investment....
...Announcement or formal approvals often come only after land is secured, and preliminary steps are advanced, making organized opposition harder. Public input, if any, is compressed into rushed hearings.
... Impacts on communities: Data centers are massive (hundreds of acres, enormous electricity and water demands for cooling, noise from fans, traffic during construction and operation). Critics argue that secrecy prevents informed debate on grid strain, water resources, land conversion (often farmland), tax breaks, and limited long-term local jobs versus temporary construction work...
You don't have to be preternaturally intelligent to suspect that the Port Washington datacenter included all of those elements, and perhaps more. The guilty look on the Mayor's face, whenever he allowed Nooz Peeps to ask questions, tells you everything.
Think we're Conspiracy Theorists?
The article here shows a LOT of positives for Wisconsin businesses, such as Regal/Rexnord, Generac, and Trane. But then there's the slime:
...At least four communities signed NDAs for major projects. In Beaver Dam, the economic development corp signed with “Balloonist LLC” (later tied to Meta) in December 2023; public awareness came approximately 14 months later, after land deals and TIF work. In Menomonie, NDA in Feb. 2024 with the same shell; two months later, the council quietly changed a land-use ordinance to explicitly include data centers under “warehousing.” The $1.6B project faced backlash, went on hold, and zoning was later reversed after community input. Similar patterns occurred in Kenosha and Janesville....
Noteworthy: WE (the company that increased electricity charges by THREE HUNDRED PERCENT since 2000) has asked the PSC to relieve datacenter operators of the "burden" of providing credit guarantees. So if the damn thing goes out of business--which can happen--ratepayers are left to pay for a helluvalotta excess high-voltage wires, towers, transformers, and switchgear.
For "good deals" as advertised, there is a lot of stink here.
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