A Conversation About Wisconsin’s First Proposed Data Center Legislation

As artificial intelligence begins to move into the dairyland, Wisconsinites have questions. Ordinary common council meetings that once seldomly welcomed an audience have started to overflow with residents desperate for answers on data centers coming to their often small or rural communities.

The only Wisconsin legislation that even mentions data centers relates to tax incentives. State Senator Jodi Habush Sinykin represents Wisconsin’s eighth district–including parts of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties–a district that is feeling the pressures of AI data centers.

Habush Sinykin has experienced a swell of concerned residents, particularly in Port Washington, as the city’s newest neighbor is a $15 billion OpenAI and Oracle data center. As the state becomes a destination for the AI industry, the development is often fast-tracked and leaves constituents feeling left behind. In an effort to fill the legislative gap, Habush Sinykin introduced Senate Bill 729 to build guardrails and accountability for Wisconsin data centers.

Media Milwaukee had an exclusive conversation about Wisconsin’s first data center legislation with Habush Sinykin.

What inspired you to consider writing this bill?

Wisconsin is rapidly becoming a highly sought-after destination for the development of hyperscale data centers, and the 8th Senate District, which I represent, will be home to a $15 billion data center in Port Washington. This legislation was modeled on similar legislation that was recently passed in Minnesota, where legislators brought together utilities, environmental organizations, labor unions, and data center developers. In this bill, we made a Wisconsin-focused version of that bill to ensure that we hold data centers accountable and protect Wisconsin ratepayers. As a state senator, I am committed to advancing legislation that brings people together and moves our state forward, through job creation, environmental stewardship, and policies that support families and a vital workforce here in Wisconsin. People are seeking transparency and information about water usage, energy consumption, climate change concerns, and local impacts—this is what my bill delivers.

What are some of the concerns expressed by local community members?

Many constituents of mine, and community members across the state, have valid concerns surrounding data center development, with many constituents feeling left out of the process. What I hear, loud and clear, is that people want to hold big tech and data centers accountable–which is what Senate Bill 729 does.

Where did you begin with building the framework for this bill? What sort of research and outreach was required of you to adequately create legislation for data centers in Wisconsin?

Beyond this and other research, I am proud to have successfully built a coalition of environmental advocates, labor unions, and other key stakeholders to hold data centers and big tech companies accountable to our shared Wisconsin values. This is what I was elected to do–build coalitions to bring our state forward and to bring people together.

Now that this bill has received a bill number and has been referred to a committee, I hope to gather feedback, public input, and hear about ways that we can address other issues with data centers.

Your statement on the proposed legislation frequently mentions the balance of state and local level governments. Many of these projects fall under the responsibility of local governments to decide what is best for their community. How does this legislation create guardrails without stepping on the toes of local governments?

Local government has a role to play in this conversation–of course it does. But I believe the state also has a responsibility to regulate this emerging industry, which is why I introduced this legislation. Senate Bill 729 is about making sure that we have clear, statewide guardrails in place that provide people in communities across Wisconsin with the information and transparency they need to engage in the local decision-making process in an informed, effective manner from the start.

Do you believe that this bill will increase the level of trust and approval among residents of Wisconsin?

This legislation is the start of that conversation. Accountability and transparency are important Wisconsin values and should be at the forefront of the data center conversation.

Senate Bill 729 aims to hold data centers and big tech accountable to Wisconsin’s citizens, local communities, and our workforce by making sure that we have clear, statewide guardrails in place that provide people in communities across Wisconsin with the information and transparency they need to engage in the local decision-making process in an informed, effective manner from the start.

Are there any other legislative acts in the works right now that address energy and/or water usage of data centers?

The bill I introduced last month is a first-of-its-kind legislation and is intended to fill the state’s existing legislative void by addressing environmental and local community impacts, energy grid and rate effects, labor and workforce interests, and overall transparency. To date, the only mention of data centers in the Wisconsin state statute is in the context of tax incentives. While this legislation is the first step to bringing the conversation to the state level, I hope that there can be more legislation to address niche issues as we continue to learn more about data centers in Wisconsin.

What are some of the words of support or opposition that you’ve heard about this bill, and who are they from?

To date, the bill has 40 Democratic cosponsors, but unfortunately, no Republican cosponsors to date. While I am grateful to be hearing positive feedback from my constituents and others across the state, it is imperative that this bill–Senate Bill 729–receive a public hearing to give the public further opportunity to weigh in with their feedback. Now that my bill has received a bill number, it needs to be referred to committee. It is then that we must do all we can to advocate for a public hearing, to gather public input and to identify other ways that Wisconsin legislators can address concerns with data centers.

Why would you say it is important to require transparency and other frameworks for data centers, and how do you hope this bill will help Wisconsin residents?

People are seeking transparency and information about water usage, energy consumption, climate change concerns, and local impacts—this is what this bill delivers.

One particular way that Senate Bill 729 would help Wisconsin residents is by insulating ratepayers from the costs of data center projects. Utility rates are already too high for Wisconsinites, and we have to ensure that data centers don’t contribute to even higher rates. This legislation would create a “very large customer” class so that all costs attributed to large data centers are assigned to that class of ratepayer, and not Wisconsin’s individual ratepayers and families.

Bottom line, we must ensure that data centers deliver community benefits–including family-supporting jobs and investments in renewable energy–which is what my bill would require.