Dozens of people packed a Mishicot restaurant to voice their opposition toward an artificial intelligence data center being built in the area, Jan. 26, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANITOWOC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The towns of Two Creeks, Two Rivers and Mishicot presented a united front Thursday night, asking for an imposed moratorium on data centers that aren’t yet approved.
“I think the sooner you enter into fact-finding and putting in place safeguards for your community, the better you are,” said Dean Anhalt, town of Mishicot chairperson.
After a joint meeting, the three separately passed a resolution petitioning Manitowoc County, essentially preventing any new data centers from coming to the area for at least one year, with an option to extend for six months.
According to the resolution, the towns have multiple concerns — among them, overburdening public services and infrastructure, potential health and safety issues and impact on property values.
“At this point, you know, from a municipality standpoint, we’re not out to stop the (artificial intelligence) centers. We’re out to put in the rules that we need to safeguard our communities,” said Anhalt.
In addition to the moratorium, the resolution asks the county to research the environmental and economic effects of data centers, as well as establish consistent zoning and/or regulatory standards to be applied to data centers in Manitowoc County.
These three towns aren’t the only local government bodies thinking about their futures with data centers.
Last month, the city of Kaukauna amended its laws on data centers.
In January, residents in Greenleaf were asked to sell their land for a potential data center. A company named Cloverleaf was looking to acquire the land. Although Cloverleaf pulled away from Greenleaf, the company still has eyes on our area. A spokesperson says Cloverleaf is still looking at sites in Northeast Wisconsin, but they can’t share where specifically at this time.
Along with local governments trying to be proactive, state lawmakers have been too. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in our area have introduced bills related to data center safeguards. Another bill was introduced Thursday by lawmakers from Milwaukee.
Those bills have hit on similar concerns to the ones brought forward at Thursday’s meeting. Common touch points include the centers reporting water usage and covering any increases in electric rates.
The Data Center Coalition describes itself as “the voice of the data center industry.” DCC addresses many common concerns with data centers here.
The overall message from Thursday’s meeting was towns want to be proactive, rather than reactive.
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