Yesterday was water, today let's discuss Milwaukee 7's new AI Data Centers energy🔌usage. Considerable erroneous information is being circulated.

Here are the facts:

Although the data centers require relatively little water, they do require massive amounts of electricity. The largest misconception is that Wisconsin households and businesses will directly or indirectly subsidize the infrastructure necessary to provide the power. In the Milwaukee region, no household or business will be required to subsidize the power investment needed for data centers. Both the Microsoft (Mt. Pleasant) and Vantage (Port Washington) projects will fall under a separate "tariff" agreement with Wisconsin Energy Corp. The agreement, subject to government approval through the Public Service Commission, ensures that the owners of the data center cover all fixed and variable costs associated with the project.

Where will the power come from?

The power doesn't necessarily have to come from Wisconsin. Wisconsin is part of the MISO network, which means power generation can be added from Louisiana to Northern Canada and still provide additional capacity to the Wisconsin grid. (Map attached). There will also be investments, once again paid for by the data centers, to increase generation capabilities in Wisconsin. This additional investment will make the grid cleaner, more reliable, and create economies of scale.

What about the environmental impacts?

All parties involved are committed to moving towards clean energy sources. Wisconsin has been transitioning away from coal to cleaner sources, including natural gas, solar, wind, and other alternatives. Nuclear technology is quickly gaining feasibility and is increasingly part of the conversation. Longer term, the Wall Street Journal published an article that AI "can also help us consume less" by running buildings on algorithms, reducing waste in manufacturing, smarter transportation networks, and better utilization of nature.