BEAVER DAM — Dozens of Beaver Dam residents are voicing concerns about potential energy rate increases connected to Meta's new data center project, as state regulators hold public hearings about Meta and Alliant Energy's utility rate contract.
Construction is well underway on the billion-dollar project, with trucks on the ground and cranes in the air as dirt is moved to make way for a 700,000-square-foot data center — and the Public Service Commission is still months away from deciding whether to approve the utility rate contract.
Steve Rydzewski lives near the construction site and is among those opposed to the project.
"For those of us that have this in our backyard, it's just crazy. We were bulldozed before we even knew what was going on," Rydzewski said.
Watch: Beaver Dam residents raise concerns about energy rate increases tied to Meta data center project
Rydzewski is calling on the state to ensure energy and infrastructure costs are not passed along to average Alliant utility customers. He says key details in the contract are difficult to verify.
"They're claiming Meta is going to pay for this infrastructure, but everything's redacted to be able to verify that, it's all redacted in that document, so you can't verify that that really is the case," Rydzewski said.
Alliant Energy told TMJ4 that its contract with Meta is "intended to protect current customers from energy cost increases" and that the company follows "a strict principle that if you use energy, you pay for it."
Meta also says it pays the full cost for the energy used by its data centers, so those costs are not passed on to consumers.
Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board — a non-profit that advocates for utility customers — says the central question is how much financial responsibility the tech company should bear.
"Alliant customers have already seen bills go up in recent years and so our concern is let's make sure the safeguards are in place to protect customers from unnecessary cost increases that should be borne by the wealthy tech companies," Content said.
Rydzewski says neighbors deserve to have consumer protections firmly in place when it comes to both energy and infrastructure costs.
"Meta can afford the infrastructure, Meta can afford to pay these rates," Rydzewski said.
The Public Service Commission is expected to make a decision on the data center utility contract in a few months.
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