Megan Wittman, megan.wittman@sierraclub.org
Madison, WI — Today, Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sierra Club Wisconsin challenging a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) decision to issue permits for a massive data center campus in Port Washington without fully evaluating the project’s environmental consequences.
The lawsuit comes after emails obtained through a public records request revealed that DNR staff initially informed data center representatives that a detailed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would be required due to the scope and scale of the project. After data center representatives complained that an EIS would “kill the project,” the DNR reversed course and decided to conduct a more limited “environmental analysis summary.” The agency has never publicly explained that decision.
"The Port Washington data center is unlike anything Wisconsin has seen before," said Elizabeth Ward, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter Director. "It will completely transform the local landscape, consume staggering amounts of electricity and water and significantly increase fossil fuel emissions. At a time when scientists warn that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we cannot afford to be making long-term decisions that move us in exactly the opposite direction.”
Vantage Data Centers, Oracle, and OpenAI are building the Port Washington data center as part of a broader effort to expand computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence. The $15 billion project is one of the first hyperscale data centers under construction in Wisconsin. The first phase alone will require an unprecedented 1.3 gigawatts of power—an amount that could power more than half a million households. The data center itself will cover 672 acres, and its energy demand will spur the construction of new gas plants, substations and high-voltage transmission lines that will spread over six counties.
“This case is about transparency and accountability,” said MEA attorney Michael Greif. “Wisconsinites have a right to know why the state changed course and why one of the largest development projects in Wisconsin history is moving forward without the level of environmental review and public input the law requires.”
In comments submitted to the DNR earlier this year, Sierra Club and MEA urged the DNR to prepare a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement that would evaluate the data center’s direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts. In particular, they pointed to the inconsistency and lack of transparency regarding the infrastructure needed to support the data center's extraordinary energy demands. While the project’s public-facing website and other marketing materials tout renewable energy development, they make little or no mention of the new fossil fuel infrastructure—including the new Foundry Ridge gas plant in Walworth County—that will be built to power the Port Washington data center.
According to a new report by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, the Port Washington data center is one of three data center projects responsible for a projected 40 percent increase in statewide energy demand over the next six years. The majority of that demand will be served by new natural gas plants or upgrades to existing gas plants.
“Environmental review is about transparency as much as it is about science,” said Greif. “When data center developers aren’t forthright with the public and regulators aren’t willing to hold them accountable, it's difficult to understand the true environmental impact of a single project, much less the combined impact of multiple hyperscale data centers. The EIS process exists for moments exactly like this. It requires government agencies to step back, examine the whole picture, and explain its decisions. Instead, regulators abandoned environmental review without ever telling the public why.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.