Maryland based developer Stonebridge quietly pursued a 10 billion dollar AI data center in the town of Pacific, about 35 miles north of Madison, that would have been among Wisconsin's largest. Town officials met with the developer starting in fall 2025, but after the town chair insisted the process be aired publicly rather than handled through private meetings, the developer stopped responding. By August 2026, Wisconsin Watch reported the project had gone silent for months and appeared to be dead.
Wisconsin
Data centers in Columbia County
We track 1 project inside Columbia County and 1 more within 25 miles of it. For a distance-specific answer, check your own address.
In Columbia County
Within 25 miles of Columbia County
Marquette-Adams Telephone Coop Operator not disclosed
Power bills in Columbia County
Most of the county is served by Alliant Energy.
Meta says the contract means other Alliant customers will not pay for the energy used by its Beaver Dam data center, though consumer advocates say the secrecy around the deal makes that hard for the public to independently verify. Alliant Energy (Wisconsin Power and Light) general rate case for 2026 and 2027 (docket 6680-UR-125) raised residential rates 5.4%, decided November 6, 2025: about $7 to $10 a month on a $160 bill. Transmission upgrades like this are typically billed to every electric customer in the state through transmission charges, not just to the data center that made the new line necessary, which is why the cost allocation question matters for ordinary bills even outside the four counties involved.
Alliant Energy's Wisconsin utility asked for an electric increase of about 8.3 percent in 2026 and 5.7 percent in 2027, plus a smaller natural gas increase, citing grid investment. The Public Service Commission approved a unanimous settlement, trimming the increase to 5.4 percent in 2026 and 5 percent in 2027 on electric rates, which works out to about 9.57 dollars a month more on a typical residential bill in 2026 and 17.45 dollars a month more in 2027 compared with 2025.
Alerts for Columbia County
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