Phase one of data center smaller than expected

A proposed data center complex slated to be built in Port Washington is moving along quickly, although the initial development of the campus is now slated to take up only about 560 acres rather than the 1,000 acres originally proposed.

As those plans are solidified, other actions intended to move the project along are also taking shape.

The Port Common Council on Tuesday held its initial review of a proposed zoning code that would govern data centers and other large technology companies. The code could be approved by aldermen when they meet Tuesday, April 15.

American Transmission Co. has selected two potential routes for power lines that will run through the Town of Port to bring electricity to the site and will submit them to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission for consideration.

We Energies has submitted a proposal with the PSC for a new rate to accommodate large customers such as data centers that would require these users to pay for all the costs associated with their development.

The Department of Transportation has also moved up a project to reroute a culvert on Highway LL that was supposed to be done next year to avoid any conflicts with construction of the data center.

The reduction in the size of the initial annexation of land for the data center campus from the Town of Port into the city is being driven by potential developers of the data center, Aaron Bilyeu, chief development officer with Cloverleaf Infrastructure, which is amassing the land and permits for the data center complex, said.

The companies Cloverleaf is trying to sell the project to have said the power that will initially be available dictates a smaller first phase, Bilyeu said.

“We started with a large area, but talking to (potential end users), they believe this area is suitable for their initial needs,” he said.

It’s important to match the available power to the available land, Bilyeu said.

To ensure the data center has reliable and adequate power, We Energies has proposed a new rate for large customers such as data centers that is intended to ensure they pay all the costs associated with building power plants and infrastructure needed to power them, spokesman Brendan Conway said.

“We designed the rate to make sure no costs to serve these new customers will be subsidized by, or shifted to, other residential or business customers,” Conway said. “This is important to us and to the very large customers we have been working with — they are committed to paying their fair share.”

The rates would apply to companies using at least 500 megawatts of power. Cloverleaf has said the new data center could use as much as 3.5 gigawatts when built out.

Even if a project is not built, Conway said, the end user would be required to pay the costs that have been incurred by the utility for the development.

We Energies has requested that the PSC act on the proposed rate structure by Dec. 31.

ATC, which is charged with delivering the power needed by customers, has selected two potential routes for the new double-circuit power line and substation needed for the data center, Scott Reigstad, ATC external communications specialist, said.

ATC’s preferred 3.5-mile route starts just east of Highway 57 and just to the west of Highway KK in the Town of Saukville and heads straight east to a new substation just south of the intersection of Lake Drive and Highland Drive.

The alternative route is 3.8-miles long and starts just west of Highway 57 and runs east along Hawthorne Drive, turns briefly southeast along Highway H and then heads east to the substation site.

ATC originally considered six possible routes and chose these two “based on criteria established in state law incorporating feedback from landowners and community members as well as the latest project details,” Reigstad said.

The company plans to file for approval of the project with the PSC this summer. The PSC is expected to decide which route will be used by fall 2026, with construction in 2027, ATC officials have said.

Construction of the initial phase of the data center is expected to begin by the end of this year.

Although the amount of land to be annexed initially is changing, Bilyeu said, the timeline for annexation has not. A petition for annexation is currently being circulated among the affected property owners and is expected to be filed with the city around April 17.

Cloverleaf has purchased options for roughly 2,000 acres of land stretching from the City of Port’s north limits to Dixie Road between the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and I-43.

The end user of the property will determine how much of the land is actually purchased, Bilyeu said, adding he expects that decision will be made “pretty quickly” after an end user is announced.

Bilyeu said Cloverleaf is negotiating with a “final few” companies and hopes to have things tied up “in the next few weeks.”

“We’re getting close,” he said, adding that every firm they are negotiating with is a U.S. company interested in developing the entire property for its own use.

  Even as the annexation moves ahead, an online petition at change.org opposing the data center is available. Among the reasons it cites are pollution, damage to farmland, nature preserves, the potential negative impact on property values and strain on the power grid.

Troy Cook, who started the petition, said on the website that the results of the petition will be brought to the Common Council.

The Common Council on Tuesday got its first look at a proposed technology campus industrial zoning district that would set standards for data centers.

The key aspects of the code are standards for landscaping, lighting and sound, officials said, noting they are intended to minimize the impact of such developments.

“We wanted to avoid this becoming just another industrial district,” Bob Harris, the city’s director of planning and development, said.

Among other things, the code would require lights to be directed downward to minimize skyglow and glare that could disrupt neighbors, birds and other wildlife, with limited fixtures near the property lines and the sound to be no more than 70 decibels at the property line.

To facilitate construction of the data center, the DOT is moving a minor bridge rehabilitation project from 2026 to this fall to avoid any potential conflicts with construction of the proposed data center.

The change was sought by the Milwaukee 7 Partnership for Economic Development, project manager James Schumacher said.

The project involves abandoning an existing storm sewer along Highway LL, filling some voids under the south bridge abutment, grading and installing drain tile in the I-43 median, he said.

The project will begin near the end of September and should be completed by mid-October, Schumacher said, adding Highway LL will be closed for 10 days while a culvert is rerouted.