Taking a cursory stroll around Beloit, one will find a crop of new window and lawn signs. Starkly colored white, black, and red signage now peppers Rock County, rallying against the construction of new data centers.
The massive wave of new data centers being proposed and constructed across the nation has struck close to home, as several Wisconsin towns, including Beloit, have been targeted. In reaction to this, local citizens and business owners such as Jenny Hoople, co-owner of Bountiful Beloit, have come together in solidarity against its development.
As reported by the Beloit Daily News, Hoople says, “I think that a lot of people don’t really see (opposing data centers) as an environmental issue. They see it through the personal lens of how it will affect their life; it’s not like some tree in a park that they’re never going to see. They probably don’t care about the caterpillars. I care about the caterpillars, but they care about their right to have a quiet, peaceful life out in the country.”
Activists are concerned about several issues, all united in the fight against hyper-scale data centers. Citing environmental concerns, the prospect of rising energy costs, and anti-democratic practices, organizers like Hoople have sought to form coalitions to combat it.
Hoople, alongside the No Data Center Facebook group, organized a town hall last Tuesday, hosted by Blackhawk Technical College, bringing together community leaders from both Janesville and Beloit, as both face the prospect of new data centers. The event was well attended, drawing a crowd of hundreds. In attendance were comedian Charlie Berens, former tech executive Prescott Balch, and other activists and industry insiders.
This is not the first time large crowds have come together against data center development in the area. Just days after it was revealed that the city of Beloit had signed a predevelopment agreement with a company known for constructing data centers from Ohio to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, concerned citizens filled up the Beloit Public Library, lamenting an apparent lack of transparency. Hoople had also printed over 200 “No Data Centers” signs to give away, all of them being taken over the course of two days.
Another town hall event was held last month at the Castle, where gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong, city councilman Yusuf Adama, and other community leaders spoke out against the proposal.
The center would, if completed, comprise over 400 acres of land owned by Rock Road Companies. Concerted campaigns to drive citizen engagement have gained momentum as a growing movement against data centers has begun to coalesce. Data center proposals in Menominee, Deforest, Caledonia, Yorkville, and Greenleaf have already been rejected. It is as yet unclear if Beloit will manage to do the same.
Featured image: Facebook
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