Data Centers Should Pay Their Way, and Wisconsin Should Set the Pace

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This column first ran at WisOpinion on August 31, 2026. My own comment in the We Energies rate case, docket 5-UR-112, is on the record.

Microsoft’s data center campus in Mount Pleasant sits on ground assembled for Foxconn. The two projects share the footprint yet differ. Foxconn was subsidy-led: Wisconsin committed billions in refundable tax credits for the promise of jobs and additional investment. The state’s $2.85 billion tax-credit commitment was scaled back to $80 million once it was clear those jobs were not coming. Microsoft purchased the footprint and deployed its own capital. Its own incentive package is modest by comparison, capped at $5 million a year. Its first building is already operational.

Economic-Development on Werk Space

Data Centers Should Pay Their Way, and Wisconsin Should Set the Pace