Village of Caledonia officials are considering a proposal for a new data center on a 245-acre site near the border with Milwaukee County.
The data center would be built on land currently owned by
We Energies, located southwest of Douglas Avenue and County Line Road.
Plans for the data center were presented publicly for the first time at a Plan Commission meeting on Monday evening by
Rich Brittingham, who is a vice president at Virginia-based
Dewberry Engineers. Brittingham said Dewberry is handling design and entitlements for the project on behalf of an unnamed client.
Details of the proposal are limited as Dewberry is still refining its plans, Brittingham said, but concept plans show three data center buildings, a 15-acre substation and space for a future transmission line corridor. The project site is located just southwest of the Oak Creek Power Plant.
Investment figures, estimated water and energy consumption and a potential construction timeline were not revealed at Monday's meeting, and Dewberry did not respond to a request for further comment.
[caption id="attachment_617222" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Concept map from Dewberry Engineers[/caption]
Brittingham's brief presentation instead focused on setbacks from neighboring residential properties (500 feet) and screenings to minimize the data center's visibility.
"The proposed (project) creates an opportunity for the Village of Caledonia to attract high-quality, low-traffic industrial development that can serve as a catalyst for economic growth, job creation, and long-term community prosperity," Brittingham wrote in Dewberry's proposal. "Any future development facilitated by this map amendment and rezone can be expected to generate significant, long-term economic benefits for Caledonia, including the creation of both construction and permanent employment opportunities."
If approved and built, Dewberry's proposal will join Microsoft's data center in nearby Mount Pleasant, also in Racine County, that spans more than 1,000 acres. Microsoft is also planning a 240-acre data center project in Kenosha, and Denver-based Vantage Data Centers is moving forward with plans to build a 1,900-acre data center campus in Port Washington.
Meanwhile, a group of stakeholders throughout the state are
forming the Wisconsin Data Center Coalition, which is hoping to ensure Wisconsin-based companies receive as much benefit as possible from data center construction and operation, as well as help attract data center development to the state.
In Caledonia, the proposal comes after the village created a new land use category earlier this year to allow for data center development, which data center stakeholders have
said can create a smoother entitlement process compared to municipalities that don't have any language related to data centers in their zoning code. At the time the new land use category was created, Caledonia officials said there were no data center proposals under consideration, village documents show.
On Monday, Caledonia's Plan Commission was scheduled to hear public testimony on the data center project and possibly vote on a comprehensive plan amendment and rezoning request. However, before the public hearing began, Brittingham requested the commission hold a vote on the plans until its next meeting to allow for more dialogue between the developer and its client and the village and its residents.
In total, more than 20 residents spoke against the project with most comments related to losing Caledonia's rural aesthetic; impacts on wildlife, the natural environment and water and energy resources; and concerns of increased pressure on residents to sell their land for more development.
"(The project) is going to be great for We Energies, it's going to be great for (Dewberry's business), it's going to create a lot of short-term construction jobs, and then it'll be an eyesore," one resident said.
The Caledonia Plan Commission will hold another public hearing on the project on Aug. 25.
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