Menomonie, US, suspends $1.6 billion data center project — The Guardian
The city of Menomonie in Wisconsin, United States, has suspended a large $1.6 billion data center project following protests by local residents. The 320-acre complex was planned near the city, which has a population of about 17,000; estimates indicated it would consume up to 75,000 gallons of water per day.
As The Guardian reports, the project was promoted by Balloonist LLC, a company registered in Delaware. The name of the technology company funding the construction was not disclosed to most city council members at the time. Two Menomonie officials signed non-disclosure agreements with the developer as early as February 2024.
Closed procedure
According to the publication, the city council approved a preliminary agreement with Balloonist during a closed meeting in March 2025. It provided for compensation to the city of up to $200,000 for site inspections and assessments, as well as environmental and transportation studies. Some council members said they had little information about the future facility at that time.
In April 2024, the city council changed the definition of warehousing activity in the local code. It included facilities for storing, managing, processing and transmitting digital data, effectively clearing the way for the data center. It has not been established whether council members knew about the specific project at that time.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Consultants promised to create up to 1,000 temporary jobs during the construction phase, engage hundreds of contractors, and provide between 50 and 75 permanent high-paying jobs. They also said they were ready to fund necessary upgrades to the power grid and water supply system.
Protests and new zoning
Residents learned of the development plans in the summer of 2025, when the issue was brought before a city council meeting. People expressed concerns about possible noise, pressure on the power grid, and the impact on private wells. After a vote to annex the parcels and change their designation, residents began sending numerous appeals to officials and organized protests.
Menomonie Mayor Randy Knaak later halted the project through a memorandum instructing that Balloonist be informed that the data center was not a suitable project for the city. In January, the city council unanimously approved separate zoning rules for data centers. They repealed the previous definition of warehousing activity and will require any developer, including Balloonist, to submit a new application. The decision put the project on hold but did not formally cancel it.
Knaak acknowledged that signing non-disclosure agreements for such a large-scale development was a mistake. According to him, the city, with its small staff, did not have sufficient experience to handle such a project.
