In Wisconsin Rapids, data center objections include developers’ Russian connections

Update: The city of Wisconsin Rapids announced Aug. 28 that its planning commission on Sept. 16 will hold a hearing and make a recommendation to the city council on the request for a conditional use permit for the proposed data center. 

Editor’s note: A breach-of-contract lawsuit in Pennsylvania against Andrey Sharkov remains pending, but a claim of fraud in the case was dismissed. This story has been updated to note the claim’s dismissal.

No matter where in the U.S. an artificial intelligence data center is proposed, communities express the same worries.

Water scarcity and contamination, electricity rates and reliability, air pollution, noise.

Residents are voicing those same concerns 100 miles north of Madison in Wisconsin Rapids, where developers want to replace a former paper mill with a 210-acre data center.

But there’s another worry in Rapids that makes the situation different from other Wisconsin communities where data centers have been proposed:

Russians...

   ...more

RSK: Another heated debate over a data center proposal in Wisconsin Rapids....seems like a good use for an old papermill if the worries can be addressed.