Wisconsin DNR sued over $15bn Port Washington data center review

Environmental groups, including Midwest Environmental Advocates and the Sierra Club Wisconsin, filed a lawsuit in Ozaukee County Circuit Court alleging that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources backtracked on a requirement to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement for Vantage Data Centers' $15 billion Lighthouse campus in Port Washington. The campus, built for Oracle and OpenAI, spans 672 acres and will house four data centers that could eventually need up to 3.5 GW of electricity. Plaintiffs say the DNR violated Wisconsin’s Environmental Policy Act by issuing permits without the study.

Vantage counsel Andrew Stewart told the groups officials were “reviewing (and panicking) internally” about the EIS requirement. Sierra Club director Elizabeth Ward warned, “It’s deeply concerning that with such a massive project… the DNR did not do an environmental impact statement.” Residents have also raised concerns about water and energy use, traffic, noise, light pollution, diesel‑generator emissions and the filling of 4.7 acres of wetlands. A draft energy assessment by the state Public Service Commission projects a 40 % rise in electricity demand by 2032, driven in part by hyperscale data centers, and notes ongoing plans for 5.4 GW of new or upgraded gas‑fired plants.

Separately, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report criticizing a perceived loophole in Wisconsin’s utility‑approval process that allows independent power producers to avoid public scrutiny for large gas‑plant projects, such as the Foundry Ridge and Red Oak Ridge facilities proposed to serve data‑center loads. WEC Energy Group disputed the claim, saying existing review procedures are “detailed, extensive and transparent.”