THU AM News: Discussion explores competing data center bills, opportunities and hurdles; Natural Resources Board approves stricter PFAS limits

January 29, 2026

— As communities and companies navigate the path ahead for mega data centers in Wisconsin, some say the massive building projects could lead to expansion of renewable energy, a stronger grid and new energy technologies.

“The economic opportunities here are enormous, if we do it right,” Rep. Angela Stroud, D-Ashland, said yesterday during an online event organized by WisPolitics-WisBusiness-State Affairs and the Wisconsin Technology Council. “So using this moment, with some of the wealthiest companies in the history of the world, to help expand our renewable grid to the benefit of the public is something we should really be looking at.”

The virtual luncheon focused on competing data center bills in the state Legislature, the broader opportunities stemming from the industry as well as concerns from opponents that have blocked projects in some Wisconsin cities.

Jason Stein, president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, echoed Stroud’s remarks on the potential for further renewable investments being driven by the energy-hungry data centers. He noted an individual hyperscale data center could consume about 1.5% of the power sold in the state.

“We can see this investment, this generational investment, as an opportunity to put renewables into the grid, to put reliability into the grid, to experiment with smaller generation … a lot of innovative things can be tried,” he said. “But I think we need to get both the regulatory frame and the technology frame correct.”

Tricia Braun, executive director of the Wisconsin Datacenter Coalition, added “this is the time” for both data center operators and utility companies to look at deploying more efficient-energy systems.

She pointed to small modular reactors, or SMRs, which are being developed as an alternative to the much larger traditional nuclear plants that take years to gain approval and produce energy. They’ve been floated as a possible solution to the energy demands posed by data centers, because the data center energy source could be located on site.

Meanwhile, Stroud discussed the Democratic data center bill, which would establish a separate customer class for data centers under the state’s utility law.

“By having different customer classes, we could partition off data centers into their own customer class, which would mean the [Public Service Commission] would actually have a legal mechanism to try to contain costs,” she said.

She noted this would help avoid energy cost impacts for residential customers, as well as industrial and commercial.

Stroud said she has yet to get a good answer on whether data centers count as industrial or commercial installations. But she added the PSC has said it could use the language included in the Dem bill.

The Republican data center bill, on the other hand, recently cleared the state Assembly and was sent to the Senate. But Dem Gov. Tony Evers has said he’d likely veto the legislation, which is aimed at keeping data centers from passing on their energy costs to others. The bill’s GOP authors were invited to join yesterday’s event but had other conflicts.

Port Washington Mayor Ted Neitzke said both legislative proposals have good elements, and if they were passed into law, the city would largely be in compliance. Construction is underway there on a $15 billion data center project, which Neitzke touted as a revitalizing force for the southeastern Wisconsin community.

The one compliance conflict with the GOP bill, he said, is a requirement that data centers’ renewable energy sources be located on-site. Still, he noted there’s plenty of land there to accommodate that.

Braun said the coalition isn’t backing either the Dem or GOP bill, though she also questioned the feasibility of that on-site renewables requirement in the Republican proposal.

Stroud criticized the competing GOP bill for not being specific on how to prevent energy costs being passed on to other customers.

“The PSC actually needs language, statutory language that they can utilize in their ratemaking processes, and so our bill gives them that language … Unfortunately, the Republican bill just offers vague language that says the PSC should keep customer costs contained,” she said. “They can’t use that.”

While the debate continues in the state Capitol over how to regulate data centers, local governments are taking matters into their own hands. Neitzke said Port Washington was “aggressive” in creating its own approvals for the data center project, and addressed “most of … if not all” of the local concerns.

He said Port Washington had been looking for significant industrial development after the decline of its “proud manufacturing heritage,” noting 80% of its tax base currently is on homeowners and residents.

“Small cities in Wisconsin, if you don’t have significant net new construction, you cannot keep up with your costs,” he said. “So the opportunity for a city is either to ripen or rot … frankly, this is the type of industrial development that a community like Port Washington benefits from.”

He said the Vantage Data Centers project will create nearly 1,000 jobs while supporting public schools and infrastructure, adding “that’s hard to say no to.”

Braun noted the typical hyperscale data center has a $45 million local economic impact, not including tax revenues, and supports 547 jobs on average.

Yesterday’s discussion came after Mount Pleasant recently approved Microsoft’s site plan that reportedly includes 15 data centers. Also this week, the village of DeForest issued a statement that staff determined a $12 billion data center proposal from QTS was “not feasible.”

Watch the video and see more on data center impacts in a recent story.

Register here for another upcoming discussion on data centers in Wisconsin. It’s being held Feb. 5 in Madison by WisPolitics and the Tech Council.

— The Natural Resources Board has signed off on a policy to establish stricter limits on PFAS contamination in drinking water despite the Trump administration’s plans to roll back the regulations.

The proposed rule would establish limits for six types of PFAS to align with federal standards the Environmental Protection Agency finalized in 2024 under former President Joe Biden. That includes setting limits of 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS.

The state’s limit for PFOA and PFOS, or a combination of the two, is currently 70 ppt.

The Trump administration last year announced it would work to rescind regulations for four of the substances, while delaying compliance with restrictions on PFOA and PFOS from 2029 to 2031, but has yet to implement the changes.

Some stakeholders, including Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Municipal Environmental Group Water Division, have asked DNR to pause the rulemaking process pending updates to the federal regulations.

Drinking Water and Groundwater Program Director Steve Elmore said DNR needs to move forward with the current policy for the state to maintain authority to implement requirements under the national Safe Drinking Water Act.

Elmore said he’s heard from EPA colleagues they could finalize the changes in April. But he doubted that possibility due to a quick turnaround time, potential legal challenges and restrictions in the Safe Drinking Water Act against removing established contamination limits.

PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment, are linked to various negative health impacts, including increased risks of certain cancers, developmental delays, reduced immune response and decreased fertility.

Elmore said the state has about 100 water systems that would exceed the new standards, and most of the exceedances would be related to PFOA and PFOS. He noted 14 of the systems have received financial assistance from DNR and are working toward compliance.

NRB Chair Bill Smith asked Elmore whether water systems that could be impacted would have enough forewarning about any changes to the federal standards before dedicating significant time and money to comply.

Elmore said systems should have sufficient time to work through the issue.

“If this action does come out early this year and … EPA is successful in finalizing the rule by April of this year, that will be a clear signal to systems that, hey, this might be a new federal law, even though it might get challenged,” Elmore said.

Board member Patty Schachtner noted the health impacts of delaying the standards.

“For the layperson out there, this is drinking contaminated water, right?” Schachtner said. “I mean, we can delay it, but people at home that are in these systems, especially these 14 that are on the way, you know, I mean this delay to me impacts the health of all the folks that have contaminated water right now, and also we’re not addressing any of the private wells at this time.”

Ahead of yesterday’s approval, WMC, the Midwest Food Products Association and Wisconsin Paper Council argued in comments to DNR that it had failed to properly account for the costs of the rule.

The agency estimated the cost of the state rule at $0 because it does not impose any additional requirements or costs above the baseline costs required under the federal regulations. DNR estimated the cost to implement and comply with the federal rule at approximately $26.6 million in the first year.

The three groups in joint comments to DNR argued state law doesn’t allow DNR to exclude compliance costs from its economic impact analysis just because they can be attributed to a federal mandate.

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is slamming Republicans for having “cut Medicaid to the bone” and failing to extend ACA premium tax credits.

Speaking yesterday during an online press conference held by the left-leaning Opportunity Wisconsin, the Madison Dem blamed congressional Republicans for “the biggest cut to Medicaid in history” and said it should be reversed.

“Yes, their ‘big, ugly bill’ cut Medicaid to the bone, threatening to terminate care for some of our most vulnerable and to shut down hospitals in rural parts of our state,” she said. “And why? To pay for tax cuts to the top one-tenth of one percent, and our biggest and most profitable corporations.”

When asked by a reporter about efforts to roll back Medicaid cuts, Baldwin said there’s currently no bill to reverse them, but added “there is a will to do so” among Democrats in Congress.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, last year called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act a “step forward” for efforts to reduce federal spending, adding “there is still a long way to go.”

Meanwhile, Baldwin said Wisconsinites are facing health insurance premiums up to four times as expensive this year, blaming the increase on Republicans not extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.

She pointed to one Milwaukee resident she heard from whose insurance is spiking from $370 per month to $1,150 per month. And Baldwin said small businesses owners are telling her their premiums will be so high they’ll have to shut down.

“I heard from families that are being forced to use 30%, 40%, even 50% of their monthly income on insurance, now that the credits have been taken away,” she said.

Wisconsin had a total of 291,336 individual market health insurance plan selections during the open enrollment period for 2026 coverage, according to federal figures released yesterday. That’s down from last year’s total of 313,579.

Baldwin noted the decline, and said “many more will likely drop their insurance once they get the sticker shock of that first bill.”

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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— State officials announced $7.5 million in grant funding for harbor maintenance and construction projects across Wisconsin.

Funding from the Harbor Assistance Program is going to Green Bay, Manitowoc, Marinette, Milwaukee and Sturgeon Bay, Gov. Tony Evers and the state Department of Transportation announced yesterday.

Some of the biggest projects getting funding include City Centre in Manitowoc building a $2 million crane platform and ramp, a $1.4 million grant for Port Milwaukee and the city to upgrade terminal buildings on Jones Island, and $1.3 million for the Port of Green Bay and Brown County to dredge part of the Fox River.

See more on other funded projects here.

Wisconsin keeps $62M in EV infrastructure funds with lawsuit win

Wauwatosa pledges $34.2M to transform Research Park into mixed-use hub

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