Hong's data center moratorium
The short version: Wisconsin Public Radio covers Rep. Francesca Hong's failed data center moratorium bill, showing how even bipartisan concern can't yet slow the buildout.
Our Take
Fifteen states have now floated moratoriums or guardrails on data centers, and Wisconsin's own attempt — Rep. Francesca Hong's bill tying approval to utility costs, environmental standards, labor rules, and local sign-off — still died without reaching the governor's desk. Credit to Wisconsin Public Radio for tracking this: it's a clean case study in how the industry's growth has outpaced the political process meant to check it.
What's notable isn't just that the bill failed, it's that Democrats and Republicans each introduced their own competing versions and still couldn't land anything. That's not gridlock over whether to regulate data centers, it's gridlock over how much regulation is politically survivable when a hyperscaler is dangling jobs and tax revenue in front of a legislature. Meanwhile, ratepayers and local water systems are the ones absorbing the risk while lawmakers negotiate.
This pattern is playing out state by state, and it's worth knowing what's already been approved near you before the next bill even gets drafted. Check our facility map to see what's been sited in your area, and visit our take-action page if you want to push your own legislature to do better than Wisconsin's did.
This is GridWatch the USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Wisconsin Public Radio, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.