(The Center Square) – Increased energy use from artificial intelligence data centers in Wisconsin will have a cost.
But the question is whether those costs will reach the residential utility payers on their home electric bills.
“And the tech companies are saying the right things and the utilities are saying the right things,” Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin Executive Director Tom Content said at a recent Wisconsin Technology Council panel on data centers. “All of our commission chairs are saying the right things that the cost causers are meant to pay.”
A big part of the reality is capacity, how much energy data centers need and how much the state’s utilities have to offer.
Alliant Energy’s Becky Valcq explained that utilities have constant infrastructure costs to ensure that the lights turn on when someone flips on a switch at their home or office. Having new large-scale customers like data centers that pay a large portion of infrastructure costs through their payment agreements with utilities can then offset those ongoing costs, which are a large portion of the bill that consumers pay.
“When we talk about growth, from a utility perspective, especially a utility that has a largely rural service territory, growth is good,” said Valcq, Alliant’s assistant vice president of regulatory affairs and data center services. “Why is it good? It’s because of all those fixed costs that we have regardless. The more customers we bring on, the lower those fixed costs are for all of our customers.”
Power capacity, however, is a large issue in the matter. Data centers in Port Washington and Mount Pleasant alone will use more energy than the rest of the consumers in the state.
It’s why Wisconsin leaders are pushing tax breaks for new nuclear plants.
Content explained that it took 120 years for We Energies to grow from 1 kilowatt to a gigawatt to five gigawatts of energy capacity but these two data centers will double that capacity need in a few years with more large-scale data centers coming, like a Meta data center in Beaver Dam.
“We’re in this inflationary environment already and now here come data centers,” Content said. “The utilities do have an obligation to serve and it’s always a question of at what time is the system ready for this project and can the system accommodate it?”
Data centers are expected to lead to the average American’s energy bill increasing from 25% to 70% in the next 10 years without intervention from policymakers, according to Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Jack Kemp Foundation.
The data centers are being brought in and given large-scale tax benefits, such as incentives negating property taxes along with sales taxes on everything from construction to servers to electricity, without the promise of many new employees and question marks on the lifespan of the developments.
“If you were trying to design the dumbest possible thing to subsidize, it would be a data center,” Center of Economic Accountability President John Mozena recently told The Center Square. “They are these big, dark buildings where virtually nobody works. Most of the high-value work at those facilities isn’t being doing by people on-site, it’s being done programmers in Silicon Valley or Shanghai or Mumbai or someplace like that.”

(The Center Square) – Improper restrictions for eligibility of federal food stamps is opposed by the Wisconsin attorney general.
Wednesday of last week, Attorney General Josh Kaul joined other state prosecutors in litigation against Secretary Brooke Rollins and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program originates in the USDA and is administered by the states.
“Improperly restricting eligibility for SNAP leads to more unnecessary hunger in our communities and an unnecessary increase in the strain on food banks and food pantries,” Kaul said in a statement. “The Trump administration must stop disregarding federal law and standing in the way of food assistance for people.”
The litigation seeks to help those illegally in the country benefitting from the program.
“Federal statutes make clear that many individuals protected under humanitarian programs become eligible for SNAP once they obtain their green cards and meet standard program requirements,” they wrote.
Wisconsin’s food stamps program is known as FoodShare. Some 700,000 people in the state who are enrolled.
This is Kaul’s fourth lawsuit or legal action against the Trump administration in November, and his 53rd lawsuit or legal action against the president this calendar year.

(The Center Square) – A group of Wisconsin lawmakers have proposed a series of laws to create tax credits for new nuclear power facilities.
One bill would create an energy tax credit for nuclear facilities that go online after 2030 and another would create up to five years of tax credit for construction materials to build a facility.
“Wisconsin needs more power,” said Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac. “We are currently a net importer of energy, consuming six times more power than we can produce. With demand for energy continuing to rise, we need to do everything we can to increase production in our state.”
Assembly Bill 472 creates the 10-year tax credit based on the megawatt capacity of the facility with a $12.5 million credit each year for a facility with a capacity of 1,250 megawatts.
“It’s been a long, complicated road,” said Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers. “… This is a huge step forward.”
Sortwell said that another nuclear facility bill would be coming later.
Assembly Bill 618 would credit the construction materials credit for facilities that are certified by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. that is good for up to five years until the company obtains its operator license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“We are going to need more energy and nuclear energy is clean, efficient and reliable,” Feyen said.
Wisconsin lawmakers approved a pair of bills earlier this year to create a statewide nuclear siting study and to create a temporary board to plan and hold a Wisconsin Nuclear Power Summit.

(The Center Square) – Democratic attorneys general from 22 jurisdictions sued the Trump administration Wednesday over ending food assistance for noncitizens who are legal permanent residents.
The lawsuit, which names the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins as defendants, was filed in the Eugene division of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. The suit argues the USDA’s guidance for the Supplemental Food Assistance Program violates the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and says the federal law keeps permanent legal residents eligible for SNAP benefits. The suit also says the USDA violated its own regulations by allowing only one day, instead of 120 days, for states to adjust to the new guidance, which was issued Oct. 31. The transition period ended Nov. 1, according to the suit.
“This guidance reads like someone took notes from the Grinch, taking food from families during the holidays,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters Wednesday during a virtual news conference, which also featured attorneys general from Massachusetts, Oregon and Minnesota.
“California will not stand by while families lose access to food because of unlawful federal action,” Bonta said. “So we’re taking Trump to court.”
The new USDA guidance deprives tens of thousands of lawful permanent residents across the U.S. of help, Bonta said, adding, “SNAP recipients are still recovering from the whiplash President Trump and his administration put them through in seeking to block November SNAP benefits during the government shutdown.”
“No president has fought harder to deprive hungry Americans from food,” he said, later adding, “No group of attorneys general has fought harder to make sure they are fed.”
Although the Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated SNAP eligibility for individuals who entered the U.S. as refugees or were granted asylum or humanitarian parole, it did not end the eligibility for noncitizens who became legal permanent residents, Bonta said. He added that under the federal law, refugees and people granted asylum or humanitarian parole become eligible for SNAP once they become legal permanent residents.
The lawsuit says the USDA guidance is contrary to the law, is arbitrary and capricious, and violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
The suit seeks a preliminary injunction to ensure families don’t go hungry, Bonta said.
Answering a question from The Center Square, Bonta said a federal court ruling could come in a matter of days or even immediately, depending on the judge. “We’ve sought restraining orders and secured them on the same day we file.”
The attorneys general are asking the U.S. District Court to rule as soon as possible, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said.
In the meantime, Massachusetts is working with food pantries and community organizations to keep families fed until a ruling is issued, Campbell said, answering a question from The Center Square. “So food pantries and many folks are working overtime to close the gap.”
Other attorneys general said their states were taking similar actions.
“The state and food banks have been stepping up to provide more support,” Bonta said about California.
Campbell, meanwhile, told The Center Square the coalition of attorneys general succeeded during previous efforts to preserve SNAP benefits.
“We were successful, this coalition, when we fought the Trump administration the first time during the government shutdown, to make sure SNAP benefits would continue to flow for the month of November and to ensure all folks in our respective states would see benefits in November and not partial but full benefits,” Campbell said.
Bonta said the attorneys general previously wrote a letter to the USDA, believing the department simply made a mistake in its guidance.
“We gave them a chance to start over,” Bonta said, but added, “The USDA’s silence in response tells us everything we need to know.” He said the new guidance was deliberate.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield told reporters that no one in the U.S., one of the world’s wealthiest countries, should go hungry.
And President Donald Trump must follow the law, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during the news conference. Trump is welcome to try to get Congress to change a law that he doesn’t like, Ellison said, but added, “We won’t let him rule by fiat. We won’t let him break the law.”
Attorneys general said Wednesday’s lawsuit is the 48th one in California and Oregon against the Trump administration. For Minnesota and Massachusetts, it’s the 45th and 43rd one respectively.
Democratic attorneys general are winning more than 80% of their legal actions against the federal government, Bonta said, answering questions from The Center Square. He added he doesn’t anticipate that the latest lawsuit over SNAP will end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Besides California, Oregon, Massachusetts and Minnesota, Wednesday’s lawsuit was filed by New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

(The Center Square) – A pair of Wisconsin legislators are proposing legislation that would create various fees for activities on state land to help fund the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
The fees include a hiking permit, which would cost $20 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 or older for anyone graveling on foot on state land and a $40 bike permit for adults using state trails and $20 for children 12 and older, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The proposal also includes a foraging permit that will cost $40 per adult and $20 for children over the age of 12.
The proposed bills haven’t been filed yet and are sponsored by Rep. Chanz Green, R-Grand View, and Sen. Rob Stafsholt, R-New Richmond.
The Center Square was unable to obtain comment from Green and Stafsholt before publication.
The Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Committee said that the proposal was an example of Republicans refusing to address the increasing cost of living in the state.
“In response to this universal struggle, Wisconsin Republicans have decided to levy new taxes on the millions of people across our state who prefer to spend their time outdoors,” the group said in a statement. “This blatantly out of touch effort is yet another proof point that our state’s Republican party is unable to address the struggles of working families.”
The fees also include new permit costs for non-motorized boats and cross-country skiing on state land.
The cross-country skiing fee would be $40 for an adult and $20 for a child over 12.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission agreed to a $31.3 million increase settlement to residential rates for electricity and natural gas for Madison Gas and Electric customers over the next two years, according to preliminary estimates from the PSC sent to The Center Square.
The approval comes soon after similar approvals for Alliant Energy and Xcel Energy that amount to $300 million in increases, meaning the three combined increases will be valued at more than $330 million.
The increases will go into effect Jan. 1. The three utilities will hold 9.8% profit margins for investors.
The Madison Gas and Electric increases represented a $28.5 million decrease from the utility’s rate request.
The increase includes an estimated $19.2 million in electrical rate increases and $12.1 million in natural gas over the two-year span.

(The Center Square) – The beer man is out.
Democrat Ryan Strnad announced that he is dropping out of the Democratic primary for governor.
“I, Ryan Strnad, citing low poll numbers and the inability to raise large sums of dollars needed to compete with the sophisticated group candidates in the Democratic primary, have decided to leave the 2026 WI gubernatorial election effective immediately,” he wrote in an announcement.
Strnad was always a longshot candidate at best. He spends his summer selling beer in the stands at Brewer games, and he’d never run for office.
In fact, Strnad said he wants to focus more on his job as a beer vendor at American Family Field, though he’s not ruling out another run for office.
“I will put my focus on some newly arising labor issues affecting the vendors at American Family Field and contemplate a run for Waukesha County Executive (provided Paul Farrow chooses against a reelection),” he added.
Strnad said he is tossing his support behind Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the crowded race for governor on the Democratic side next year.
“I am happy to endorse Milwaukee County Executive, David Crowley for the 2026 WI gubernatorial race!,” he wrote. “David is a proven leader who has earned my respect after getting to know him over the last several months!”
Strnad’s exit leaves six other candidates, including Crowley in the race.
There are also rumors that two other Democrats, former Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes might jump-in as well.
There are two Republicans in the race, Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.
Voters will make their choice in the primary in August.

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court sent a pair of challenges to the state’s congressional maps to three-judge panels Tuesday.
One was a challenge from Elizabeth Bothfeld in Dane County Court and the other was from the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy and a group of individual voters.
Both cases argue that Wisconsin’s current maps were gerrymandered and created in an unconstitutional way.
The Bothfeld case will be review by a group including Dane County Judge Julie Genovese, Milwaukee County Judge Mark Sanders and Outagamie County Judge Emily Lonergan.
Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote that he agreed with appointing a three-judge panel but did not agree with how that panel was selected.
He argued that a randomly selected panel would be better.
“These statutes are transparently designed to prevent forum shopping in disputes over where congressional lines should be drawn,” Hagedorn wrote. “To avoid litigants simply choosing their preferred venue and judge, the statute requires the appointment of a three-judge panel with each judge coming from a different judicial circuit, and then requires that venue be assigned to one of those circuits.”
The second case will be determined by a panel including Dane County Judge David Conway, Portage County Judge Patricia Baker and Marathon County Judge Michael Moran.
In that case, Justice Annette Ziegler argued against sending the case to a panel.
“The majority not only undermines our constitutional authority and circumvents established redistricting precedent but also, again, usurps the legislature’s constitutional power,” Ziegler wrote. “In allowing this litigation to proceed, the majority abdicates its constitutional superintending authority to Wisconsin’s circuit courts.”
Ziegler wrote that there are 260 circuit court justices in the state and they received no information on why the specific judges were selected but offered that half of those selected were appointed by Gov. Tony Evers.
“Hand picking circuit court judges to perform political maneuvering is unimaginable,” Ziegler wrote. “Yet, my colleagues persist and appear to do this, all in furtherance of delivering partisan, political advantage to the Democratic Party.”

(The Center Square) – The average price per gallon of gas is $2.73 heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the American Automobile Association.
That compares to a $3.05 average across the United States and $2.85 a year ago.
Wisconsin was not in the top 10 highest or lowest average price per state.
Eau Claire had the lowest average price of a metropolitan area in the state at $2.62, according to AAA.
The lowest reported Wisconsin price was $2.39 at a Citgo in Waukesha and $2.45 at Bono’s in Kenosha and at a Citgo in South Milwaukee.
Four gas stations near Oklahoma City were at $1.99, the lowest prices in the U.S. since 2021, according to GasBuddy.
“It’s pretty compelling to see gas prices this low, falling ahead of Thanksgiving, and it signals what more Americans could experience in the coming months,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a post. “Lower seasonal demand, falling oil prices, and rising OPEC output are all pushing prices down.
“While a few stations have recently dipped below $2 through temporary offers and promotions, this marks the first time we’ve seen a regular sub-$2 price. Prices at this level may fluctuate, but more locations in low-cost states like Texas, Mississippi, and others across the Gulf region are likely to follow before the typical spring rebound we’ll likely see in 2026.”

(The Center Square) – The Slender Man stabber could be facing years behind bars once she returns to Wisconsin.
Prosecutors in both Waukesha and Dane County could fil charges after Morgan Geyser apparently cut off her court-ordered ankle bracelet and fled to Illinois over the weekend.
Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese said she “fully support[s]” a move to revoke Geyser’s conditional release from the state mental hospital.
Geyser was sentenced to 40-years in the state hospital after she originally pleaded guilty to nearly stabbing a 12-year-old friend to death in 2014.
Geyser’s guilty plea was overturned when a court said she, and the other Slender Man stabber, were both mentally ill.
Boese said she couldn’t get into the specifics of Geyser’s case. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is technically in charge of Geyser’s sentence and custody.
DHS officials didn’t answer questions on Monday.
Geyser, however, could face six years in prison if prosecutors in Dane County file felony escape charges.
The group home where she lived is in Madison, and it is a class H felony to escape from custody.
Police in Madison say they are investigating, but they have not yet made any recommendations in the case.
Geyser was taken into custody in Posen, Illinois on Sunday night. The state has requested she be extradited back to Wisconsin, but no one is saying when that will happen.
It’s also not clear what charges the man who was with Geyser could face.
Investigators say it appears he helped Geyser leave the group home. Investigators say they took a Greyhound bus to Illinois, and then a local bus from Chicago to Posen.
They were arrested behind a truck stop after police said the two were trying to sleep on the sidewalk.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin had two gun incidents, including a death after a self-inflicted gunshot, during the opening weekend of deer-hunting season, which runs from Nov. 22-30.
The fatal incident happened Saturday evening in Fond du Lac County where a 24-year-old male in a saddle stand was found after an unintentional self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest that is still being investigated.
The second gun-related incident happened Saturday afternoon in Grant County when a 57-year-old male was shot in the buttock while walking to a field to begin hunting.
The fatal gunshot was the first in the state during hunting season since 2022.
Overall, hunters registered harvesting 48,748 antlered deer for opening weekend, up from 48,063 a year before. Antlerless totals were 41,923, up 7% from a year before.
There were a similar numbers of hunters year over year with 777,843 registrations sold for all varieties of hunting.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources experts indicated that the state could see a rise in the deer harvest if snowfall occurs and remains on the ground for the second weekend of the season.