Will data centers devour Wisconsin's climate goal?

Will data centers devour Wisconsin's climate goal?

From Center Stage, with Milfred and Hands by Wisconsin State Journal

February 11, 2026 · 9 min

About this episode

Milfred and Hands discuss the impact of proposed data centers on Wisconsin's climate goals.

Milfred and Hands assess the flurry of data centers being proposed across Wisconsin in communities such as  Mount Pleasant , Beaver Dam, Janesville,  Grant County  and, until recently,  DeForest . The billion-dollar projects are needed to support our phones, computers, electronic devices and artificial intelligence. But they also will consume, in many cases, more energy than the cities where they hope to locate. That risks undermining Wisconsin's goal to be carbon neutral by 2050 if the Public Service Commission approves more natural gas plants to power the centers. Our political podcasters play audio clips from the  Wisconsin Policy Forum 's recent forum in Milwaukee on data center development. 

People in this episode

Hosts: Milfred, Hands

Topics covered

  • data centers
  • climate goals
  • energy consumption
  • Wisconsin

Keywords

  • carbon neutral
  • natural gas plants
  • artificial intelligence

Mentioned in this episode

Products: phones, computers, electronic devices, artificial intelligence

Places: Wisconsin, Mount Pleasant, Beaver Dam, Janesville, Grant County, DeForest, Milwaukee

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