Sheboygan Council Studies Data Center Zoning and Resource Demands

The Sheboygan Common Council is hosting a speaker series to educate local officials and the public on zoning codes for data center operations. Although no data center projects are currently planned for the city, the council is developing rules to prepare for potential future developments.

During the third session of the series on September 23, Bridget Williams of the Great Plains Institute presented on the energy and environmental impacts of these facilities. Williams detailed the resource demands of hyper-scale facilities, citing the Port Washington Data Center as a case study. She noted that the Port Washington site will require up to 3.5 GW of power, which is nearly three times the capacity of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant.

Williams highlighted concerns regarding rapid electricity demand growth, water usage for power generation, and security challenges, specifically regarding fire department access to high-security compounds. While she noted that developers maintain significant security, she suggested local governments should still consider these factors. The Great Plains Institute advised that zoning restrictions for data centers should align with those of existing industries rather than being more restrictive, and warned that Community Benefit Agreements often suffer from vague enforcement.