NO WAY!

After hearing over an hour of comments from residents, members of the Cranberry industry, and representatives of modular data center developer Nodiac, the Monroe County Board approved an 18-month moratorium on Tuesday night, July 21, 2026.

The moratorium applies to applications for medium- and large-scale data centers. It also covers Battery Storage Facilities defined as any site housing a collection of interconnected batteries. The county plans to research potential impacts and develop zoning regulations. County officials said the resolution's definitions were written to exclude schools, local governments, and businesses that operate their own internal computer servers. 

Under the proposed definitions, small internal-use server rooms are exempt from the moratorium, while commercial data centers that use 500 kW or more of electricity are subject to the moratorium. Data centers ranging from 500 kW to 100 MW are considered medium, while anything over 100 MW is considered large.

The proposed moratorium was requested after Nodiac's plan to build a 12-megawatt modular data center in the Town of Adrian. Company representatives said the project is much smaller than the massive "hyperscale" facilities making headlines elsewhere in Wisconsin and argued it should not be viewed the same way.

The Nodiac facility would use small modular data center units with a closed-loop cooling system containing approximately 14,000 to 16,000 gallons of recirculating water. Company representatives explained that the water would be reused rather than continuously consumed. The water would contain a food-safe glycol additive, similar to what some dairies use, to help with the cooling process. Every 5-8 years, the water will be removed and taken to a treatment plant for disposal.

Peter Haney, speaking for Nodiac, said the company understands why the county wants time to study the issue and wants to be part of that process.

"We understand that this moratorium makes a lot of sense to consider," Haney said. "We want to be a partner in that case." He said the company has budgeted between $360,000 and $600,000 annually for community benefits throughout the life of the project and wants local officials to help determine how those funds could be used most effectively.

Other Nodiac officials emphasized that the proposed Adrian project would occupy about 1.5 acres and use existing electrical capacity at the Oakdale substation. They also said the company is willing to accept limits on future expansion, consider a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement if necessary and explore using community benefit funds to help reduce local electric bills.

Opposition

Many speakers urged members of the board to slow down.

Mandy Gerke said, "I don't think we lose anything by taking the time to study this, but we could lose a great deal if we move too quickly."

Nicole Smith asked supervisors to look at what is happening in Port Washington, Wisconsin. According to Smith, Port Washington has experienced major disruptions from a large data center project there, including construction impacts, environmental concerns, and uncertainty about long-term effects. She said Monroe County should take the time to gather information before allowing similar development.

Several residents raised concerns about groundwater, electrical demand, agriculture, property values and the county's rural character.

Holly Larsen of Sparta urged supervisors to support the moratorium and, eventually, to prohibit data centers altogether.

"They (Nodiac) have been speaking and pretending to address concerns, but really they are downplaying impact," Larsen said. She questioned whether multiple smaller projects could eventually become a much larger development and argued that any financial benefits would not outweigh the environmental and social costs.

Representatives from Wisconsin's cranberry industry also spoke in favor of the moratorium.

Dr. Gabby Myers of the Wisconsin Cranberry Research and Education Foundation said groundwater and surface water are critical to agriculture and deserve additional study before any data center projects move forward.

"I believe that any industry seeking to use our shared natural resources should provide clear, long-term benefits to our community that extend beyond the construction phase and create lasting value for the people who live, work and raise our families here," Myers said.

Dr. Grant Holley, executive director of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association, said the issue isn't whether data centers are good or bad, but whether the county has enough information to make an informed decision.

"If you're going to jump in a pond, you measure the water first," Holley said, urging supervisors to hear from independent experts before making permanent zoning decisions.

Mandy Dawitt said, "I urge you to vote in favor of this moratorium so that Monroe County has the opportunity to fully understand the long-term impacts before making decisions that cannot easily be reversed."

Board Debate

Board members spent time debating the wording of the moratorium itself.

Doug Rogalla passed out a flyer with information about a Dane County Moratorium. "What I have here is something that might be able to simplify our moratorium. It came from Dane County. It talks to the subject we heard about earlier today: hyperscale. Those are the big ones, like in Fort Washington, Beaver Dam, and the Madison area. I think it would simplify significantly what we're talking about."

"As I look through our resolution, it goes all over the place. I don't think we have a really good definition of what a small-scale, medium-sized, or large-scale data center is," Rogalla added.

Zach Zebell questioned whether the resolution was overly complicated and argued the county should simplify the language before moving forward. He suggested sending the resolution back to the Planning and Zoning Committee for revisions.

"I think we need the time to do this right. This isn't about saying yes or no to a data center today. It's about making sure we have the information and the regulations in place before we make those decisions," Zebell said.

Others said approving the moratorium first would give officials time to make refinements while preventing new applications from moving ahead.

County legal counsel told the board the definitions were intentionally written to exclude local schools, governments and businesses that operate their own internal server rooms. The purpose, she said, was to focus the moratorium on commercial data center developments while providing a framework for future zoning discussions.

Monroe County zoning director Allison Elliot reminded supervisors that the moratorium applies only in Monroe County's zoned towns and does not affect cities, villages, or unzoned townships.

"This moratorium is for the zoned towns in Monroe County. So, it's the unincorporated areas of Monroe County that have adopted general zoning... It doesn't cover villages, cities, anything incorporated, and it does not cover the unzoned towns. There's about half of the towns that have adopted general zoning and half that haven't," Elliot said.

When asked what those unzoned towns would need to do, Cedric Schnitzler said, "If anybody had newspapers, they would know the town of Angelo is unzoned. They have a moratorium because they adopted that, and they went through the process as an unzoned township. I'm not saying we didn't know what to do, but they did that on their own; other townships would need to do that too."

Elliot explained that while 18 months may seem lengthy, much of that time would be needed to draft zoning regulations, hold required public hearings, receive input from towns, and complete the legal process before any ordinance could take effect.

Following discussion, the Monroe County Board approved the temporary moratorium by a vote of 10-3. David Pierce, Zach Zebell, and Doug Rogalla voted no. Jason Jandt, Todd Sparks, and Remy Gomez were absent.

Tuesday's vote does not decide whether data centers will ultimately be allowed in Monroe County. The debate over whether and how to regulate data centers in Monroe County is far from over. Over the next 18 months, county officials will study the issue, gather public input, and draft regulations before deciding what role, if any, data centers should play in the county's future.