Caledonia Plan Commission Endorses Microsoft’s Third Wisconsin Data Center

Microsoft is one step closer to bringing its third data center campus to Racine County.

The tech giant is seeking to build a data center on 244 acres near the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant in the village of Caledonia. The Caledonia Plan Commission met Monday night and voted 5-2 to approve an amendment to the village’s land use plan map and the rezoning for the data center.

The amendment is the first of many approvals needed before Microsoft can actually break ground on the site. The Caledonia Village Board is expected to vote on both items during a meeting on Oct. 14, according to village Trustee Nancy Pierce. Pierce, also a member of the plan commission, voted against the land use plan map amendment and the rezoning Monday.

“We have other places in the village where we could accommodate this (data center) and it would … work perfectly fine,” Pierce said after the meeting.

Plan commission member Ami May also voted no on both items. She said she still has questions about how the data center development will impact the community.

“I would like to see more answers before we move it further,” May said before the vote.

Plans for the site were announced in July, but it was unknown at that time who the user of the site would be. Microsoft confirmed last week it would operate the data center campus.

The plan commission’s decision came after more than two hours of public comment, where more than 40 residents spoke out against the project. Some residents raised concerns about the amount of water and energy data centers use. Others said they were worried about traffic, construction and noise and light pollution.

Jennifer Berg, who has lived in Caledonia for 44 years, said the project site is 1 mile from her house. Berg said she’s not opposed to a data center being built in the village, but she said the proposed site is the wrong area for it.

“We’ve had beautiful farms, beautiful homes being built and now you’re changing our whole neighborhood,” Berg said. “This would be disastrous to this area.”

The plan commission voted to rezone the land from an agricultural district to a light manufacturing and office district to make way for the data center. Before the vote, Caledonia resident Chelsea Schlicht said approving the rezoning and land use plan map amendment would be a “fundamental shift in the soul of our village.”

“Caledonia’s lands support wildlife, protect groundwater and offer vital ecosystem services we will lose forever if we move forward,” Schlicht said. “Once you convert farmland and green space to industry, you do not get that land back.”

Caledonia — a village of about 25,000 — borders Milwaukee County.

If approved by village officials, it would be Microsoft’s third data center project in Racine County. The company recently announced plans to invest $4 billion for the construction of its second data center in the village of Mount Pleasant. Construction for the first data center in that community is set to be complete next year.

Some county officials did speak in favor of the company’s plans in Caledonia during the public hearing, including Hope Otto, Racine County’s director of human services.

“(Microsoft’s) investment isn’t just in buildings and technology, it’s in people,” Otto said. “A data center of this scale supports not only Caledonia and Racine County, but it serves our state, our country and our world.”

During the meeting, Diann Strom, community affairs regional manager for Microsoft, said the company is still early in the planning phase for the center. Other Microsoft officials have said the data center campus in Caledonia would likely look different than the two campuses the company is building in Mount Pleasant.

Laura Million, deputy director of the Racine County Economic Development Corporation, has said anywhere from 50 to 200 people would work at the data center in Caledonia, while about 300 to 400 construction workers would help build the facility.

A fact sheet from the Racine County Economic Development Corporation says because the site is not in a tax incremental financing district, “property taxes generated by the project would immediately flow directly to the Village, County and school district — strengthening local budgets, supporting essential services, and reducing the tax burden on residents.”

“This could help enable the Village of Caledonia to maintain service levels for fire and police, make road improvements and consider investments in parks and recreation,” the fact sheet says.

A Monday statement from Microsoft said the company looks forward to “continued conversation and partnership” with the village board about the project.

“We are eager to work together with neighbors in Caledonia to build a project that reflects the values and priorities important here — including those related to the character of the community and the natural resources that are precious here,” the statement says.

Listen to the WPR report

Wisconsin village’s plan commission approves rezoning for Microsoft data center  was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.