Data Centers Cause Problems far Beyond their Footprint

According to datacenter.com, there are currently 40 data centers in Wisconsin, with at least 5 more proposed, including a thousand-acre QTS facility proposed in DeForest.  Residents have spoken out about the farmland and environmental land displaced by the facilities’ expansive footprints, the water consumption and their enormous electrical demand – in many cases more than communities’ total residential and commercial consumption.  That demand for electricity has even farther-reaching consequences, in the form of new power line proposals.  Christian Thorsberg is an environmental journalist who studied the issue in a recent article in the online journal Circle of Blue. He joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on January 26. 2026.

Featured image: power lines run through a farm field near Waldo, Wisconsin. (Photo by Christian Thorsburg)

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