Assembly Bill 840 had its first public hearing in the Assembly Committee on State Affairs Wednesday, The Center Square reports.
Key components of the bill include requiring data centers to pay utility rate increases, not public consumers, and that centers would be required to use closed-loop cooling systems to limit water use.
“Wisconsinites deserve certainty that their electric bills won’t go up simply because a data center moves into our state,” said Rep. Jerry O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, who is one in a group of Republicans pushing the bill. “AB 840 is designed to protect all Wisconsin consumers, not just those who live near a data center.”
Earlier this month, Greenleaf village residents in Brown County pushed back against a proposed data center project by a Texas-based developer, and the project is no longer moving forward.
