The city of Madison will not give any large data center projects permits until 2027 after passing a one-year moratorium on Monday, the Cap Times reports.
The moratorium applies to facilities larger than 10,000 square feet.
The vote passed unanimously and allows for the city to develop a permitting process for data centers.
“The city’s current regulations related to telecommunication centers do not reflect the current industry in terms of how data storage, processing and transmission has evolved, and does not reflect best practices for managing these types of uses,” Meagan Tuttle, Madison’s planning director, said Monday at a Plan Commission meeting ahead of the vote.
Data center projects have become a topic of heated debate in Wisconsin, with many concerned about how the operations may affect the environment and increase energy costs to customers.
