State environmental groups are urging Microsoft to use renewable energy to power its Mount Pleasant data center campus, Wisconsin Public Radio reports. Over a dozen advocacy groups last week signed an open letter to the tech company, warning that the multibillion-dollar project could slow Wisconsin’s progress in the transition to clean energy.
Data centers use 10–50 times the energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building. The Mount Pleasant development, in addition to other industrial developments in southeast Wisconsin, are contributing to projected increases in demand for power. Advocates have voiced concerns that the state could lean on fossil fuel infrastructure to meet that demand.
Groups that signed the letter include:
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Action for the Climate Emergency;
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Clean Wisconsin;
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Environmental Justice & Infrastructure Initiative;
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Faith in Place;
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Healthy Climate Wisconsin;
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RENEW Wisconsin;
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Sierra Club Wisconsin;
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The Nature Conservancy;
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350 Wisconsin;
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Union of Concerned Scientists;
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Walnut Way; and
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Wisconsin Green Muslims.
