New UCS Report: Powering Wisconsin Data Centers with Clean Energy Could Avoid Billions in Climate, Health Costs

CHICAGO (January 21, 2026)-Data centers are coming to Wisconsin, requiring massive amounts of electricity at a time when household bills are already on the rise. More energy is needed to bolster Wisconsin's electricity grid as data centers are widely expected to reshape the energy landscape in the coming years. A new report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) highlights the effects of data centers' growing electricity demand on Wisconsin's power grid and how decisionmakers can mitigate harmful impacts on people and businesses by driving more clean energy development and adopting stronger ratepayer protections in the state.

The report, "Data Center Power Play," assesses the potential costs of meeting data center load growth over the next 25 years and the consequences for climate and health. Since future data center demand growth is highly uncertain largely due to a lack of transparency from utilities and Big Tech companies, UCS modelled multiple demand growth scenarios as well as energy policy scenarios for how that demand is met.

A state-specific fact sheet shows that in Wisconsin, data centers will account for up to 68% of electricity demand growth by 2030 in its mid-level data center demand growth scenario. Without better ratepayer protections, over the next 25 years such data center growth could put Wisconsinites at financial risk of $30 billion in additional electricity system costs, UCS reports.

Absent stronger policies, data center load growth will also lead to worsening pollution from Wisconsin's fossil fuel power plants. UCS calculated mid-level data center growth could lead to more than 41 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2035, largely due to a reliance on fossil gas to power them. This is more than the state's transportation and industrial sectors emitted combined in 2023.

Conversely, the UCS analysis shows that by adopting more robust state and federal clean energy policies to meet this demand, Wisconsin would see the economic benefits of more clean energy development and deliver $8.7 billion in health savings and avoid $428 billion in global climate damages between now and 2050.

"Data centers are being planned across the state right now with little opportunity for public engagement or transparent information," said Maria Chavez, report author and energy analyst at UCS. "Utilities are pushing costly new fossil gas projects, like the recently approved Oak Creek plant, without any guardrails to protect ratepayers from sharp increases in their bills. Wisconsin decisionmakers must take immediate action to safeguard Wisconsinites from the economic and environmental burdens of unmitigated data center growth. Policymakers and regulators should start by passing comprehensive ratepayer protections, Integrated Resource Planning legislation, and a clean energy plan that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of people over Big Tech's profits. In these policies, transparency and accountability are paramount to achieving more equitable outcomes for Wisconsinites."

You can read about national-level findings here, as well as related blog posts here. UCS also released state fact sheets for Illinois and Michigan alongside the national report.