Southeastern Wisconsin and Chicago emerge as data center hubs, sparking energy demand and clean energy investment debates.

Southeastern Wisconsin and the Chicago area are becoming major players in the national data center explosion, with Microsoft’s $3.3 billion planned data complex near Racine, Wisconsin. Clean energy advocates in the region argue that data centers pose both a risk and an opportunity due to their stress on the grid, potentially leading to new natural gas plants and significant renewable energy investment. Wisconsin utility We Energies cited demand from data centers in its recent requests for 1,300 MW of new gas generation. Meanwhile, data center developer T5 has announced plans for four to six data centers worth $6 billion near the Illinois town of Grayslake. Virginia’s electricity demand could quadruple due to data centers, and could represent 40% of total demand in the state over the next 15 years. Projections suggest that data centres processing cryptocurrency and running AI applications will increase energy demand nationally and end an era of stagnant load growth.