(The Center Square) – An increasing number of Wisconsinites believe that the costs of data centers is higher than the benefits.
A new Marquette Poll showed that 76% of registered voters believe the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits while 22% believe the benefits are higher.
That’s a change from October results from a similar question where 55% believed that the costs were higher and 44% believed that the benefits of data centers are higher.
The poll interviewed 838 registered voters in Wisconsin between July 8-16 with a margin of error of +/-4.5 percentage points.
The poll also showed that those believing the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits has risen across party lines with 67% of Republicans, 71% of independents and 88% of Democrats believing that the costs outweigh the benefits.
That’s opposed to October results, when 53% of Republicans, 55% of independents and 56% of Democrats believed the costs outweighed the benefits.
Microsoft recently announced that there are 550 full-time employees on site at the recently completed Fairwater data center in Mount Pleasant and expects that to be 800 by the time the second project is completed in 2028.
The project is the first of the $20.6 billion in data centers that the company has planned in the state.
Microsoft is expected to be the largest beneficiary of a wide-ranging Wisconsin sales tax exemption on everything from construction materials to electricity that is estimated to lose the state $1.5 billion in initial foregone state sales tax from four data center projects, according to a new Legislative Audit Bureau report.
In addition, the state will lose $369 million annually once construction on the projects are complete.
A recent Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll showed that voters believe data centers on not worth the strain on local electricity, water and infrastructure and that the negatives outweigh the importance for national security and competing with China.
The poll also found that voters believe local governments should be cautious about new data centers and those concerns outweigh the jobs, tax revenue and support for America’s digital economy that they bring.