Originally published in The Cap Times.
Every industry uses water and electricity, whether it’s a dairy farm, foundry, brewery, golf course or a distillery like the one in my hometown of Cambridge, Wisconsin, that works in partnership with comedian Charlie Berens. So when I watched one of his videos lamenting proposed data centers — with similar concerns shared by friends and family — I thought I’d add another perspective.
If something uses a lot of water or electricity, as a data center does, it is reasonable to be concerned about it, like the leftover casserole in a Tupperware container that your aunt wouldn’t let you leave without taking. We should consider the tradeoffs of saying yes.
Data centers quietly power the everyday things people rely on: video calls with family, online banking and bill pay, GPS and weather forecasts, streaming movies and music, medical records and emergency services, small businesses selling online, and the AI tools increasingly helping farmers, students, doctors and workers do more with less. Even hilarious, career-launching YouTube videos and Craigslist Kickers wouldn’t be possible without a data center powering them.
Data centers are not a bogeyman. They are part of the foundation for today’s economy and a more prosperous future. Data centers are infrastructure. Just like grain elevators. Just like paper mills.
A modern distillery — like many food and beverage producers — can easily use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per month, along with substantial electricity for pumps, cooling, HVAC, lighting and operations. That’s normal. That’s how manufacturing works.
Data centers also use a lot of electricity. They run 24/7 because the modern economy runs 24/7. Their direct, on-site water use is often far closer to industrial facilities than critics suggest, and the industry will continue to gain efficiencies.
What really drives water usage concerns is bigger than data centers themselves — it’s how we generate electricity.
If Wisconsin wants to attract data centers and minimize water impacts, the solution isn’t to chase away investment. It’s to build more generation, modernize the grid and diversify power sources. In other words: Do the hard work of abundance instead of the easy work of saying no.
Here’s what data centers actually bring to Wisconsin:
• Massive property tax base, often funding schools and local services.
• High-paying technical jobs, plus sustained facilities, electrical and construction work over decades.
• Anchor demand for new energy generation, which benefits everyone else on the grid.
• Infrastructure upgrades that rural and semi-rural communities rarely get first.
Data centers don’t dump effluent into rivers, don’t truck in raw materials daily, and don’t shut down the moment commodity prices dip.
They are boring, stable, and good at paying taxes.
Wisconsin was once at the forefront of early electrical innovation. The Vulcan Street Plant in Appleton became the first hydroelectric central station in North America in 1882, and other towns along the Fox River, like Kaukauna, grew up harnessing waterpower to light mills, homes and factories. Manitowoc’s shipbuilding industry would not have been possible without new energy generation. Wisconsin didn’t become an industrial state by rationing energy; it did so by building the power needed for the next generation of work.
Growing up, my dad started and built his own construction company. I would tag along and help as best I could as he raised homes, retirement communities and other buildings out of the ground in a bunch of small towns. I still remember when Cambridge shot down a proposal my dad made to build a business on a plot of land near where the Dancing Goat Distillery and the old Matt Kenseth museum are now located.
Local zoning review stopped the proposal, and my dad’s small business lost out on a contract that would have made a huge difference for our family. I’m glad they didn’t also stop Berens’ Old Fashioned Brandy from being produced in town.
Wisconsin is home to a hard-working, honest and notably kind culture. Charlie is great at what he does: holding up a mirror to that lovable culture, exaggerations and all. Comedy can also correctly poke holes in public policy and shape our perception of reality.
And the reality is this: Wisconsin has always made stuff. Sometimes it’s delicious cheese curds, barrels of brandy or “Up Nort’ Remembers” T-shirts. Sometimes it’s server racks that power hospitals, farms, factories and businesses across the country.
I care deeply about my hometown and love returning for the annual Dip for Dozer scholarship fundraiser on the second Saturday in February. I want to make sure the next chapter of our state still feels like home — while we all enjoy greater heights of prosperity.
We can laugh about data centers, and we should ask tough questions. We should also recognize them for the real-world opportunity they represent. Progress has always looked a little suspicious — right up until it became normal.