(BEAVER DAM) People in Beaver Dam say they didn’t know a massive data center was coming to town until plans were already in motion. Now, a state lawmaker wants to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
State Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown, is co-authoring a bill that would ban nondisclosure agreements for new data center projects in Wisconsin. The measure would stop local governments from keeping the developer’s identity confidential.
“A lot of people would call our office initially on this and we would say, ‘Look, this was a local decision…by local aldermen and local officials in Beaver Dam. Why didn’t you take it up with them at the time?’” Jagler said. “And they said, ‘Well, we didn’t know about it…we didn’t know who this was.’”
The issue surfaced after the Meta data center project in Beaver Dam was approved under a confidentiality agreement. Jagler said that decision was made locally, but he heard frustration from people who felt left out of the process.
Seven major data center projects totaling more than $57 billion are underway across Wisconsin. According to Wisconsin Watch, four were kept under wraps through nondisclosure agreements.
Industry groups say those agreements are important in early development stages. Supporters of the bill argue the public deserves transparency, while still allowing trade secrets to be protected.
Jagler said the proposal won’t change what’s already happened in Beaver Dam, but he hopes it will rebuild trust going forward — and eventually reach the governor’s desk for approval.
