Data centers in Grant County, Wisconsin: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Grant County's data center arrived and left without anyone learning who was behind it. In the fall of 2025, out-of-state developers who had been scouting northern Illinois for a crypto project saw the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line crossing into Grant County. "There's a chunk of power there, Ron, and we need to grab it before someone else does," county economic development director Ron Brisbois recalled them saying, Wisconsin Watch reported. They floated a $1 billion to $2 billion hyperscale campus of about 500 acres near the town of Cassville (population 400), at least three times larger than any development in the county. Brisbois estimated it would need 400 to 500 megawatts and produce about 50 jobs and $5.5 million a year in property taxes. He went public in December but never named the developers.

Opposition built through the spring. More than 600 people came to a March event in Potosi with the comedian Charlie Berens, and Pete Moris of the "No Data Centers in the Driftless" group helped lead the effort. Moris said not being told who the developer or the end user was felt "scary." In the town of Cassville, which had no zoning, residents voted 44-0 at a town meeting to tell their board to stop the project, and in April the board passed an ordinance banning data centers for up to two years. The town's attorney, Eric Hagen, said the developer was "looking for the lowest-hanging fruit with the least amount of regulations." "This is the Driftless area for Christ's sakes," said resident John Hawn. Other Grant County towns and the County Board followed with moratoriums of their own, Wisconsin Watch reported.

After a March call about incentives, Brisbois told the developers a tax increment district probably was not legally possible for a town, and he later attributed their silence to the lack of local tax incentives. "It's gone dead quiet," Brisbois said in April. By June he was still calling without an answer, and his daughters told him he was being "ghosted." "This data center project is going to be located somewhere," he had written to his board. "If it's going to be somewhere, it should be here."

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.