Dane County  
Minutes - Final Unless Amended by  
Committee  
Advisory Committee on Data Centers  
Consider:  
Who benefits? Who is burdened?  
Who does not have a voice at the table?  
How can policymakers mitigate unintended consequences?  
Tuesday, February 10, 2026  
12:30 PM  
Hybrid Meeting, at Room 357 City County Building, 210  
Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd  
A. Call To Order  
Staff Present: Majid Allan, Jaron McCallum, Ben Kollenbroich, Josh Schroeder,  
Todd Violante  
Chair Miles called the meeting to order at 12:31 PM.  
12 -  
Present:  
CYNTHIA RICHSON, DOUG YELK, BOB WIPPERFURTH, CINDI KELM-NELSON,  
CIARAN GALLAGHER, CAITLIN SHANAHAN, DON POSTLER, KERRY MARREN,  
PATRICK MILES, TERRY BRADSHAW, TONY ABATE and LAURA SCANDURRA  
1 - COREY SINGLETARY  
Excused:  
B. Introductions  
Committee members and staff introduced themselves. Committee members  
explained what role they are filling in this committee, and what interested them  
in joining this committee.  
C. Explanation of Meeting Process  
Chair Miles gave an explanation of the charge of the committee, explanation of  
meeting process, and how the public can provide comment.  
Members of the public may submit comments and feedback via the public  
comment form located at the below link, or by email at:  
ACDC@danecounty.gov.  
https://danecountyplanning.com/Planning/ACDC  
Webpage created for the committee can be found at the link below.  
https://danecountyplanning.com/ACDC  
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DATA CENTERS - FIRST MEETING  
2025  
PRES-253  
Attachments: 2025 PRES-253.pdf  
D. Election of Officers  
1. Chair  
A motion was made by WIPPERFURTH to nominate MILES as Chair. The motion  
carried by a voice vote.  
2. Vice-Chair  
A motion was made by MILES to nominate POSTLER as Vice-Chair. The motion  
carried by a voice vote.  
E. Schedule of Meetings  
The committee discussed the meeting schedule and duration and agreed to  
meet monthly on the second Tuesday of each month, beginning at noon.  
Meetings will last 90 minutes. Staff was directed to report back if any meeting  
date would fall on a holiday.  
F. Review of Enacting Resolution  
Members reviewed summary information regarding the committee’s charge to  
examine issues surrounding hyperscale data centers, which include:  
-Energy consumption and emissions impacts  
-Electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure  
-Water usage, sustainability, impacts to surface and groundwater resources  
-Land use, environmental compatibility, farmland conversion  
-Noise, lighting, and other aesthetic and community character impacts  
-Emergency services and security implications (fire-fighting, hazmat, etc.)  
-Economic benefits, including potential tax base growth, employment  
-Lifespan of facilities and considerations for decommissioning  
-Intergovernmental relations  
-Regulatory authorities, policy mechanisms  
-Other relevant issues that merit exploration  
Miles asked members if there are other issues that merit investigation or review  
by the committee. Discussion ensued with members suggesting the following  
items be added to the list of issues for committee review:  
-Monitor state and federal efforts to regulate data centers  
-Changes in technology that may impact data centers in a manner that leads to  
obsolescence and decommissioning of massive buildings/campuses  
-Overview of how the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is affecting the rapid  
build out of data centers, as well as issues and concerns over the potential  
impact of AI technology  
-Potential impact of data centers on ecological corridors and habitat  
fragmentation and other unanticipated “potential risk factors”  
-Process management and best practices recommendations for local units of  
government on handling a large-scale data center proposal given intense public  
interest and also staffing limitations both in capacity and expertise  
-Transparency issues and concerns with data center proposals  
-Backup diesel generators to be included in the discussion of Dane County's air  
quality component  
ESTABLISHING THE DANE COUNTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DATA  
CENTERS  
2025  
RES-205  
Sponsors: MILES, POSTLER, BROWER, ROSE, MARREN, FURMAN, SMITH, FRIES, CHAWLA,  
DOOLAN, PETERSON and ENGELBERGER  
Attachments: 2025 RES-205  
FISCAL NOTE_2025 RES-205  
2025 RES-205_AS AMENDED IN ZLR AND EANR COMMITTEES  
2025 RES-205 SIGNED COPY  
2025 RES-205 CLEAN COPY  
G. Goals/Priority Setting  
Staff reviewed a hypothetical schedule of monthly meetings and topics based  
on the committee’s 12 month timeframe for investigation and reporting.  
Discussion ensued, with members recommending a number of strategies for  
addressing the expansive list of issues requiring investigation. Suggestions  
included the following:  
-Include a standing agenda item for news and other relevant updates regarding  
data centers in Wisconsin, such as PSC meetings/hearings, state legislative  
efforts, topical meetings/webinars, etc.  
-For particularly complex topics, such as energy/water, may need to focus on  
just one or two discreet topics given limited timeframe to address the issues  
-Invite guest panelists representing a variety of perspectives  
-Establish hypothetical examples for a hyperscale data center proposal(s) to  
overcome lack of detailed information and data to facilitate  
discussion/consideration of potential impacts  
-Prepare and/or invite guest speakers to provide members with a “data center  
101” presentation  
-Develop a list of critical questions that local units of government should  
consider if/when presented with a hyperscale data center proposal  
-Coordinate with committee members with subject matter expertise on  
particular topics to recommend background materials and plan upcoming  
meetings  
-Establish a repository of background information and other reference materials  
that local officials and members of the public can access  
-Invite guest speakers/panelists from other communities that have engaged in  
similar efforts (e.g., Loudoun County, VA; Linn County, IA)  
Further discussion ensued with members acknowledging the scale and  
complexity of the committee’s charge.  
H. Future Meeting Items and Guest Speakers  
Staff provided a brief overview of a possible 12 month meeting schedule  
incorporating 7 issue-area meetings (Mar-Sept 2026), 2 work meetings to draft  
findings and recommendations (Oct-Nov 2026), 2 public hearings to solicit and  
incorporate public feedback (Dec 2026, Jan 2027), with the final meeting to  
release the committee’s report (Feb 2027). Members agreed that Chair Miles  
should work with staff and individual committee members as appropriate to plan  
and prepare for future meeting topics.  
I. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
None  
J. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
None  
K. Adjourn  
A motion was made by RICHSON, seconded by WIPPERFURTH, that the meeting  
be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously.  
The meeting adjourned at 1:55 PM.  
Minutes respectfully submitted by Majid Allan and Josh Schroeder, pending committee approval