Data centers may feel like a big-city phenomenon, but more and more of them are showing up in rural communities like ours––and there’s good reason for that. Rural areas offer what data centers need most: affordable land, room to grow and access to transmission lines that can move large amounts of power.
What makes data centers different from other large businesses is their appetite for electricity. These facilities run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Servers must stay online constantly, which means power needs to be reliable every minute of every day.
For electric cooperatives like Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative (CWEC), powering data centers create both opportunities and challenges.
On the plus side, data centers have the potential to bring steady, long-term, load growth that helps support investments in the local grid. With proper planning and policy support, those upgrades — including new substations, stronger lines and smarter technology — could benefit all CWEC members and help keep electricity rates steady.
But providing power to data centers presents challenges, too. These large facilities can be constructed and begin operating in as little as one year, but ensuring the necessary infrastructure, equipment and electricity requires longer lead times and significant financial investment. Strategic planning and partnerships, as well as long-term power supply strategies are essential to the process.
While CWEC does not currently serve any data centers, co-ops nationwide are fielding requests and inquiries from tech companies, and we anticipate similar requests in the not-too-distant future.
As a member-owned cooperative, our responsibility is twofold: to listen to the communities we serve and to provide reliable, affordable electric service to all CWEC members. Balancing those responsibilities is not always simple, especially as new types of large-scale energy users, like data centers, become part of the local landscape.
No matter what the future holds, our priority will be supporting growth with fairness –– that means ensuring large-scale energy users pay their fair share, so residential bills don’t spike and our local communities feel invested in.
The energy landscape is changing, and with it comes both opportunities and challenges. Our commitment, and the commitment of CWEC’s board and employees, is to continue listening, communicating and working with our members and community partners to ensure all decisions reflect the best interests of the people we serve.
If you have questions or concerns regarding data centers, your energy bills or any other co-op matters, we encourage you to stay engaged and reach out.
Your voice matters at CWEC.