Southeastern Wisconsin vaulted into data center hotspot status during 2025 with massive projects underway or announced, causing a ripple effect through the construction industry as well as electric energy and manufacturing.

The drivers of the trend included ample available land for the massive projects, willing partners in the electric utility industry and Wisconsin state sales tax breaks for data center projects.

At the outset of the year, the region already was the site of one $3.3 billion data center project underway for Microsoft in Mount Pleasant.

By the early days of 2025, news emerged that Cloverleaf Infrastructure of Houston was assembling property in Port Washington for what a company executive said ultimately would be the largest hyper-scale data center campus in the country.

In June, Vantage Data Centers of Denver took charge as the developer of the Port Washington project. In October, OpenAI and Oracle were disclosed as the operators, and the estimated project cost increased to $15 billion from $8 billion.

Despite Milwaukee-based comedian Charlie Berens taking to social media to urge Port Washington residents to oppose the project, the city’s Common Council approved a development agreement, zoning and a tax incremental district.

By September 2025, Microsoft announced expanding its plans for Southeast Wisconsin.

On Sept. 18, the company announced a second data center project in Mount Pleasant at a cost of about $4 billion. Then on Sept. 23, Microsoft revealed exploring a third major project in Racine County — this one in Caledonia.

By early October, Microsoft dropped plans for a data center at a site in Caledonia, citing “community feedback” after village residents opposed the project. The company said it continues seeking another site in Racine County.

Yet another data center is planned in Beaver Dam, which is about 60 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Facebook operator Meta said in November it will invest over $1 billion in a large-scale project.

Data center operators and developers said their projects employ thousands in the construction industry. Contractors and subcontractors geared up to provide building trades workers at the initial Microsoft site with much more work anticipated, and at the second Microsoft site and the Port Washington site.

Read more at the Milwaukee Business Journal.