The following is an uplifting story of what local grassroots advocacy can win: Making sure new data centers pay for the energy they need instead of passing the costs on to families. Before this decision, data centers in Wisconsin were not required to pay their fair share for electricity. Community members would have been forced to make up the difference. Local advocates pushed back—and prevailed! This will push data centers to use cheaper, cleaner sources of energy. But before diving into the details, it’s important to acknowledge some wording confusion.
Here’s what happened: In April, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC), the government agency that regulates utilities, issued what’s called a large load tariff for new data centers powered by We Energies, the largest utility in the state. It requires these data centers to pay 100% of their energy infrastructure costs, instead of distributing them on to regular utility customers, which they had been doing. Here’s the confusion: The word “tariff” is typically used to mean a tax on imported goods. But a “large load tariff” is totally different.
A large load tariff is a rate structure for data centers—a pricing plan approved by a state’s utility regulators. It is used by utility companies like We Energies to determine how costs are reflected in customer bills. Part of the rate structure is determining “who’s going to pay the bill,” explains Moms’ Wisconsin Organizer Jayne Black. “Is the data center going to pay, or are we going to pay?”
This is why a large load tariff can have a huge impact on the average person’s electric bill. Read on to learn about the PSC’s ruling, which was a massive victory for Jayne (recently featured in People) and a coalition of advocates in the state.
Tell Congress: Protect Families From Dangerous Data Center Air Pollution
The importance of state regulatory agencies
Today’s data centers demand exponentially more energy and energy infrastructure, like power plants and transmission lines, than customers have ever needed before. In Wisconsin, two planned data centers could ultimately require as much energy as all We Energies customers combined. This means We Energies will need to build more infrastructure to generate, transmit, store, and distribute energy.
Historically, the costs for building new power plants, solar installations, transmission lines, etc., have been distributed among all utility customers’ bills. But with more energy-guzzling data centers coming online, these costs have started to skyrocket—and utility customers everywhere are taking notice. This is where a large load tariff comes in.
Initially, We Energies proposed a tariff with a 75-25 split, with the data centers paying for 75% of the new energy infrastructure costs and customers covering the rest. But the utility needed to get approval of this proposal from the PSC.
Wisconsin families were already fed up with data center boom
Dozens of fossil-fuel-powered data centers are operating in or planned for Wisconsin, and they’re attracting increasing public outrage. Many citizens are deeply concerned about environmental and health impacts of nearby projects, but they often don’t find out about them until it’s too late. And this is before they learn that they themselves were going to be paying for the infrastructure to operate the projects.
“Our communities are torn apart in Wisconsin right now,” says Jayne, a former pre-K teacher whose children’s illnesses inspired her to become an organizer. “People are showing up in droves. They’ll hold a town hall meeting where there’s a proposed data center, and they’ll pack a room with 500 people. We’ve never seen that before.”
Justice Day at the State Capitol in Madison.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Black.
The Wisconsin playbook
The PSC is made up of three commissioners who wield tremendous power, because they set utility rates for the entire state. But commissioners are appointed by the governor—not elected—and the average Wisconsinite doesn’t know much about their work. When the PSC began considering the new 75-25 proposal for data centers, Jayne and her fellow advocates sprang into action. Here are the key tactics organizers used to connect the dots and mobilize the public.
1. Build a coalition.
Jayne and Wisconsin Moms teamed up with 25 organizations in a coalition called Power Wisconsin Forward. The group coalesced around one key message: make data centers pay 100% of their energy infrastructure costs. The coalition met weekly and provided talking points and other tools to help people have maximum impact when expressing their voice.
2. Flood the official record with comments.
Most people had never engaged with the PSC before, but the coalition’s advocacy results were staggering: the agency received more than 2,000 comments on the tariff, with over 90% opposing cost sharing. “People were like, I don’t want this dirty fossil-fuel data center in my backyard, and I definitely do not want to help pay for it,” Jayne says.
3. Get in the press and amplify on social media.
Jayne recalls that one of their most effective tactics was holding virtual press briefings about the PSC hearings, open to all media. During the meetings, organizers explained the issues and the stakes in plain language and received quality press coverage as a result. Organizers also used social media to get their message out—Jayne posted Instagram reels walking viewers through the tariff issue step by step.
4. Make it personal for the commissioners.
“You have to make a lot of noise,” Jayne says, to ensure your message reaches the commissioners so they understand how important the issue is and that you expect them to do the right thing. In addition to seeking press coverage to reach the commissioners, organizers also called them out by name in town halls, hearings, and comments.
Proof the messaging got through
When the PSC ultimately decided to reject We Energies’ initial proposed tariff and require new data centers to cover 100% of their energy costs, “we were so shocked,” Jayne says. “We rarely get a win with our PSC.” Even better? The PSC’s press release echoed organizers’ own messaging. “That was really unusual—they were saying the things that we were saying,” she marvels. “We couldn’t be happier!”
It’s possible large load tariffs are being negotiated in your state, and your voice is needed at your state public utility commission’s meetings. If you want to engage on data center decisions and their impacts on your family’s health and electric bills, but are not sure how, Moms’ organizers can help. Find out how to get involved in your state.
Tell Congress: Protect Families From Dangerous Data Center Air Pollution