Less than a day after the Democratic candidates for governor met in a televised debate, the five met again in Milwaukee to discuss the future of AI data center development in Wisconsin.
The candidates gathered in the more elegant confines of Turner Hall on July 29 to answer questions from the Journal Sentinel's Jessie Opoien and ordinary Wisconsinites about their plans to regulate the controversial developments. Presumptive Republican nominee Tom Tiffany was invited, but declined.
Wisconsin has become a center for data center development, thanks to its cool weather, abundant freshwater, and $2 billion in state tax exemptions. But hyperscale data centers have raised bipartisan ire across the state. Wisconsinites from Mount Pleasant to Menomonie have protested their projected impact on energy infrastructure, natural resources and tax revenue.
A recent Marquette University Law School poll found that 76% of Wisconsinites believe the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits, including 67% of Republicans and 88% of Democrats. In Milwaukee, a city committee is floating the idea of a year-long moratorium on data center development in the state's largest city. At the state level, legislation aimed at regulating data centers failed to pass the legislature this session.
In the months since, the controversy has become a central part of the campaign for governor. At the debate July 28, candidates were asked nearly half a dozen questions about data centers, and none about health care. Meanwhile, Democratic frontrunner Francesca Hong has gained attention with her proposals for a yearlong moratorium on data center development and a special legislative session to pass data center regulation.
Here are seven key takeaways from the forum.
Ozaukee County is a must win for Democrats in November, and its largest city of Port Washington has been at the center of the data center debate in Wisconsin.
Newly elected Alderman Michael Beaster asked candidates what they would do to empower the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and rectify what he feels were mistakes made with the massive Oracle data center project that is now entering its second phase, after sparking local outrage and a failed recall attempt against the city's mayor.
"We need help from the state, and we need it now," Beaster told the candidates.
None of the candidates offered concrete proposals for reversing the environmental harms advocates say have already been caused by the Port Washington data center, but many of them emphasized local control throughout the night.
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said it should be up to communities whether data center projects get built or not.
"Communities have largely stepped up and opposed data center construction," Barnes said. "If the community says no, then the answer should be no."
Similarly, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley wants to see local municipalities empowered to make decisions about data center development in their communities.
"We have to make sure local municipalities or local leadership has the ability to actually say yay or nay on what has happened," Crowley said.
State Sen. Kelda Roys proposed providing legal resources to support local governments in challenging or negotiating data center development agreements.
Beaster said he was leaning toward voting for state Rep. Francesca Hong in the Aug. 11 primary election. Her proposals, which include a moratorium on new data center development, felt like the most direct response to his community's concerns, he said.
"I think Francesca Hong has the best platform that's been put forward to really give some protections for our communities," he said.
Hong's moratorium proposal proved to be the most controversial policy position of the night.
Roys criticized Hong's plan as infeasible.
"If what you're actually interested in doing is immediately stopping the unregulated development of data centers because you find the status quo unacceptable, and I do, then what you want to do is put all your organizing energy into actually passing the strong regulations bill that the so-called moratorium says that it is seeking," Roys said. "If you want to just yell about things on social media, that's one thing, but I'm actually interested in passing legislation."
Former Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan called for a temporary pause of a few months on new development while his administration would work to craft legislation.
Barnes stopped short of supporting Hong's proposal, but insisted that data center development had to be put on hold.
"People have already been experiencing contaminated water, air quality issues," Barnes said. "Without any guardrails, there should be no new data center infrastructure."
Crowley firmly opposed the moratorium, preferring maintaining local input.
"I think that putting a full moratorium actually takes away local control," Crowley said. "It actually preempts local municipalities because there may be manufacturers that have already been shuttered, and there have been communities who are looking to bring these in and wanting to hold them accountable."
But Hong kept returning to the proposal, insisting that a temporary ban was the best way to address concerns ranging from noise pollution to utility rates.
"Not just the financial risk, but the community risk to public health is not something that we should be taking lightly or trying to rush through," Hong said. "It is important that this moratorium is in place, so that the construction of new AI data centers is protecting communities' natural resources because we shouldn't be selling out Wisconsin to Big Tech."
When pressed, she did not detail what conditions would have to be met for the moratorium to be lifted. She also said she would call a special session on her first day in office to pass data center regulation.
The first citizen question centered on the possibility that Wisconsin might lose out on the investment that comes with AI data centers if the state took too aggressive a stance against development. Few of the candidates seemed concerned by the potential loss of investment.
All of the candidates agreed that the current subsidies for data centers had to end, but Crowley was the only one to emphasize the need to attract investment from tech companies in the state and entertain the possibility that more tailored subsidies might be on the table.
He emphasized the importance of tech investment in Wisconsin businesses and universities.
"In the tech sector, we can help them get connected to those data centers, grow the businesses here," Crowley said. "I don't want people getting their first check on the East Coast or West Coast or in Chicago. So we're going to need a governor who can actually bring investments here to the state of Wisconsin."
Roys and Barnes were firm that data centers should not receive any subsidies.
"Under no circumstances should we as taxpayers be subsidizing the wealthiest, most powerful corporations in the history of the planet," Roys said.
Hong emphasized the need to change the state's economic system to better serve working class Wisconsinites.
Brennan said it was important for the state to be a tough negotiator with companies looking for subsidies and focus its economic development efforts on homegrown innovation.
"We are growing are own here and investing in what we can do in Wisconsin," he said.
All of the candidates emphasized the need for data centers to pay for their own infrastructure upgrades and support the state's clean energy transition, so ratepayers don't end up footing the bill.
"These data centers, they need to bring their own renewable energy," Crowley said.
Barnes said the state needed to prevent the cost of upgraded energy infrastructure from being passed onto everyday Wisconsinites in the form of higher utility bills.
"There will be no shared costs for everyday ratepayers. They have to cover all their electricity costs," Barnes said. "There has to be a commitment to renewable energy to go back to the grid."
Roys proposed a fee on all data centers that would support a public infrastructure fund for local school districts and municipalities.
Brennan, meanwhile, emphasized the need for the state to protect consumers from transmission infrastructure costs being passed onto them on their utility bills.
In case Tuesday's relatively subdued debate did not make it clear enough, the forum showed how much these five candidates agree. On almost every question, the candidates agreed on the problem and disagreed only on the details of the solution. Few seemed willing to engage in personal attacks.
A possible exception was Barnes, who focused most of his attacks on Crowley, rather than the clear frontrunner.
This was particularly apparent when asked about the phase out of coal power plants and the possibility of utility rate hikes.
Barnes, who is calling for a utility rate freeze, criticized Crowley for accepting money from utility companies.
"There is one candidate on this stage who is also getting money from utility companies. So it'd be rather hard to trust this person [is one] who's actually going to follow through and do the right thing to hold these utility companies accountable," Barnes said. "I have done a great job of making enemies with them."
Crowley pushed back, arguing that a rate freeze would only slow down the state's transition away from coal.
"By freezing the rates, you're basically saying that we're going to burn more coal," he said to Barnes, comparing the latter's proposal to Tiffany's opposition to phasing out coal.
"You would be against freezing the rates because you're getting money from utility companies," Barnes retorted.
Barnes also doubled down on his comments at the July 28 debate, condemning Crowley as the establishment's hand-picked nominee.
At one point, Roys herself appeared to make a swipe at Hong, who has benefited from a large following on social media.
"I will make decisions based on facts and based on evidence, and not what feels good in the moment, not to be the most popular girl on Reddit," Roys said.
There was an era when Wisconsin politicians were enamored with the rise of the internet age and the state's highest elected officials courted the likes of Foxconn. But Wisconsin's leaders have clearly soured on Big Tech.
Barnes was scathing in his criticism of Big Tech companies.
"Unfortunately, tech companies, social media companies have taken advantage of individuals, have taken advantage of communities," Barnes said. "For many folks, the data center feels like a physical manifestation of all that."
Roys blamed technology companies for the countries economic woes.
"These Big Tech oligarchs, they have broken our economy," she said. "They have, in many ways, broken our politics, and they make it even harder for us to solve the challenges that are facing us, and we cannot let them break our state."
While the candidates largely refrained from personal attacks, they reserved their choicest words for presumptive Republican nominee Tom Tiffany.
All but Barnes were quick to agree that any of the five of them would beat Tiffany in November.
"I believe everyone on this stage can defeat Tom Tiffany," Hong said. "He is truly one of the weakest candidates that the Republicans could put forward. … This is someone who will rubber stamp [President Donald] Trump and will always put Trump first."
Crowley committed to helping whomever the nominee is defeat Tiffany in November.
"I absolutely believe that anybody up here would beat Tom Tiffany because I'm going to work my damn hardest to make sure that whoever wins this primary beats Tom Tiffany in November," Crowley said. "We'll not just defeat Tom Tiffany, but we'll defeat Trump's legacy because that's what this is ultimately about. We cannot allow anyone to pick up the mantle and allow a MAGA extremist to occupy this governor's office."
Brennan raised questions about the risk posed by candidates' past comments and touted his own transparency.
"If there are skeletons rattling around in anybody's closet, you ought to know that because the stakes are too high for us this fall," Brennan said.
For her part, Roys said that Wisconsin's swing state politics mean the Democrats cannot be overconfident about beating Tiffany in the fall. She said the GOP's efforts to boost Hong's primary campaign show they think a Hong nomination would help bring a Republican victory in the governor's race and Republican control of the legislature.
Barnes questioned the others' electibility and emphasized his experience running statewide campaigns and recent polling that shows him leading Tiffany in a general election matchup.
"I have been through this before, and I know how dirty, I know how nasty, and I know how expensive these things get," he said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democratic candidates for governor discuss future of data centers