18 letter writers sound off on data centers in Wisconsin

The process for the proposed QTS data center just west of DeForest has exposed some ugly truths about the DeForest Village Board and the process it is using to cram this thing through.

Before these large data centers are built in Wisconsin, they should be required to provide most of their own energy by installing large arrays of solar panels. They should not be allowed to get their energy to power these facilities from the local grid.

This is the time of year when the news media summarizes the past year, and produces many lists of the top news stories, books, movies, TV shows and songs.

Opposition to data centers has been growing in the Madison area. Data centers use large amounts of electric power and water and take up significant space.

The proposed massive data center in DeForest is a critical concern, amplified by the rapid, job-displacing advancement of artificial intelligence.

Lower property taxes sound good when a community seeks to bring in businesses. This is the argument city leaders are promoting to sell the data center to the Beaver Dam community.

Every time I hear of another section of prime Wisconsin agricultural land being planned for conversion to some non-agricultural purpose — such as the 1,600-acre (2.5-square-mile) QTS data center in DeForest — I keep thinking people have no clue where their food comes from. Or maybe they really don't care about the cost of their groceries (or the future cost of food for their children).

Alliant Energy and Virginia-based QTS make seductive promises about the 615-acre, $3 billion data center proposed for Dane County, and the DeForest community has valid doubts and objections, based on the Oct. 31 State Journal story, "Builder vows to finance upgrades to power grid."

Developers want to build a data center in the town of Vienna in Dane County. 

The Aug. 31 State Journal article “Will boom bust the grid?” left out the most important consideration. In discussing the emergence of data centers across the state, it failed to highlight where all this needed energy is going to come from.

The State Journal's Aug. 3 article “Powering Forward: AI plan for data centers will require massive amounts of electricity” raised concerns about possible environmental impacts, including climate change risks and water shortages.

The proposal to build a high-tech data center in northern Dane County needs reevaluation.

The saddening State Journal article "Rule not backed by science" on June 17 explained how the latest Environmental Protection Agency ruling about carbon dioxide is nonsense. Scientists know carbon emissions are causing many premature deaths and billions of dollars of economic damages.

It seems you can't take two steps these days without tripping over AI. Artificial intelligence is billed as the solution to all of our problems: It will write your emails and your term papers. It will speed your internet searches and give better results. It'll generate new solutions to complex math, materials and environmental problems.

It's time to make a full push toward nuclear power in Wisconsin.

Another corporate giant is making grand promises in southwest Wisconsin of hundreds of good-paying jobs with lots of new money flowing into our economy and helping to fill state government coffers.

As communities consider whether to accept data centers, they should consider that data centers are increasingly essential to the "cloud" data storage.