Environmental Group Challenges Wisconsin Agency Over Energy Demand Records
Amidst growing concerns about energy consumption by data centers in Wisconsin, a legal battle has emerged over access to public records. Meta’s planned data center in Beaver Dam is at the center of this dispute, as Midwest Environmental Advocates seeks to uncover details about projected energy demands.
The nonprofit law center has taken legal action against the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) after the agency denied their request for unredacted documents. These documents pertain to the anticipated energy consumption of Meta’s data center project. Despite the lawsuit, PSC has refrained from commenting, citing its policy against discussing ongoing litigation.
Data center developments across the state have raised alarms among environmental groups. They argue that the energy demands from such projects might hinder the transition away from fossil fuels. Supporting this concern, an analysis by Clean Wisconsin indicates that data centers, like those by Microsoft in Mount Pleasant and another in Port Washington, could surpass the energy consumption of all Wisconsin homes.
While Meta has yet to comment on the lawsuit, a company representative previously declined to disclose the energy requirements for the Beaver Dam project.
Michael Greif from Midwest Environmental Advocates articulated the group’s concerns in a statement to WPR: “These hyperscale data centers that are facilitating artificial intelligence use enormous amounts of electricity, often on the scale of large cities, sometimes even entire regions.” He emphasized the potential impact on Wisconsin’s energy consumption, warning of significant increases.
The legal dispute began when the environmental group identified redacted energy demand information in PSC documents related to data centers in Beaver Dam and Port Washington. On October 1, they requested unredacted versions of these documents from PSC. Despite receiving responses acknowledging the requests, the PSC ultimately refused to disclose the unredacted information for the Beaver Dam project, claiming it as a “trade secret.”
Greif disputed this classification, arguing, “A trade secret, under Wisconsin law, has to have independent economic value, and I don’t think that’s the case here.” He pointed out that similar information from a different utility had been provided without issue.
Midwest Environmental Advocates successfully obtained unredacted documents for the Port Washington project, revealing a request for a 1,300-megawatt facility by We Energies. However, their request for Meta’s Beaver Dam project was denied based on the trade secret claim.
In a related case earlier this year, the group sued the city of Racine to obtain projected water usage data for Microsoft’s data center in Mount Pleasant. The sought-after information was released shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
