Wisconsin City Passes Nation’s First Anti-data Center Referendum

A small Wisconsin city home to a data center project backed by President Donald Trump voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to restrict future data centers, in a first-of-its-kind referendum that backers said could offer a blueprint for AI infrastructure opponents around the country.

Voters in the Milwaukee suburb of Port Washington approved the measure by a roughly 2-to-1 margin, according to unofficial results.

City residents who sponsored the voter initiative said it marks an escalation of tactics to oppose the massive facilities needed to power artificial intelligence and could inspire activists in other towns to follow suit.

“This is really setting a precedent,” Christine Le Jeune, founder of the nonprofit Great Lakes Neighbors United, said in an interview Tuesday evening. “This is something that other communities can look to.”

At least three other communities around the country are set to vote on similar ballot measures targeting data center projects later this year. And in Ohio, data center opponents are seeking to place an initiative on the statewide ballot that would ban new construction of certain large data centers.

The Port Washington referendum doesn’t actually derail the city’s controversial data center campus — a $15 billion, 1.3-gigawatt facility from tech giants OpenAI and Oracle that’s one of multiple “Stargate” AI megaprojects the companies are planning with the Trump administration’s support. Instead, it takes aim at future projects by requiring city leaders to obtain voter approval before awarding developers lucrative tax incentives.

Representatives for OpenAI and Oracle didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Le Jeune told POLITICO she and other data center skeptics in Port Washington were concerned about transparency, noise pollution, freshwater use and increased energy costs surrounding the Stargate project. Their concerns are similar to findings from a recent POLITICO poll that asked U.S. voters to identify their top concerns about data center construction.

Local business groups that opposed the measure argued it would stifle all kinds of future development, beyond just data center projects. The developer building the complex, Vantage Data Centers, launched an ad campaign in favor of the project, arguing it will boost jobs in the region.

Vantage Data Centers and Port Washington Mayor Ted Neitzke, who also opposed the measure, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The referendum could be frozen within days as part of an ongoing court challenge. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce, a regional business group, filed a lawsuit in late January seeking to block the measure on grounds that it violates state law.

Even if the Port Washington measure is struck down, it won’t be the last time U.S. voters weigh data center-related policies at the ballot.

Residents in Monterey Park, California, will decide in June on a measure seeking to indefinitely ban new data center construction within city limits. In August, Augusta Township in rural Michigan will decide whether to override a local ordinance that cleared the way for a data center project. And in November, Janesville, Wisconsin will vote on a measure that could scuttle plans to redevelop a former General Motors assembly plant into an AI factory.