There’s been a lot of publicity this past year about the pros and cons of data centers. Data centers are facilities that house computing infrastructure, including servers, storage systems, networking equipment and other components necessary to store, process and distribute large amounts of data. These centers are the backbone of modern digital services like cloud computing or artificial intelligence, social media to banking and government operations.
Much of the publicity has come from very large data center proposals that require enormous quantities of water and energy, such as the $8 billion, 672-acre Vantage data center near Port Washington. But did you know there are already 39 data centers in Wisconsin operating in nine markets (according to DataCenterMap.com)?
Minnesota has 75 data centers in 12 markets and Iowa has 95 data centers in 10 markets. There are no current data centers in the 7 Rivers Region, with the closest centers in Eau Claire and Rochester.
A potential project is being considered by Harmony, MN, where 60 acres of land is being annexed to the city. There is no current proposal, but the annexation could lead to a joint project between MiEnergy Cooperative and its parent company Dairyland Power Cooperative and the Harmony Economic Development Authority.
It’s not a question of if but when a data center proposal comes to our region. It will be up to the community to decide if it is a good fit, weighing the pros and cons.
To better educate our region, the 7 Rivers Alliance will focus on data centers for its State of the Region Annual Meeting. The meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 24 starting at 3 p.m. at the La Crescent Area Event Center.
Speakers and attendees are still being finalized but Tricia Braun, CEO of the Wisconsin Data Center Coalition (WIDCC) will speak and help moderate a roundtable discussion with experts representing data centers, utilities and economic development.
Other meeting discussions will focus on manufacturing and AI. Registration is underway, with $35 tickets for 7 Rivers Alliance members and $40 for non-members.
Please join us and become better informed about data centers.