Wisconsin Lands $1B Meta Data Center as Mortenson Expands Hyperscale Work

Meta plans to speculate more than $1 billion to construct a 700,000-sq-ft information middle campus in Beaver Dam, Wis., and has chosen Mortenson as the overall contractor for what state officers name one of many largest single private-sector initiatives in Dodge County historical past.

Introduced final month, the info middle’s proposed location in Alliant Vitality’s Beaver Dam Commerce Park, about 40 miles northeast of Madison, can be Meta’s thirtieth information middle worldwide and its twenty sixth in the USA. The corporate expects the campus to be on-line in 2027.

Meta says the ability is engineered to help increasing AI workloads and can be constructed to LEED Gold requirements.

“We’re thrilled to find our latest information middle in Beaver Dam,” mentioned Brad Davis, Meta’s senior director of group and financial growth, within the state’s announcement. He cited dependable power infrastructure, accessible land and entry to expert labor as central to the location selection.

Main Infrastructure and Energy Investments

Along with the info middle, Meta will finance almost $200 million in energy-infrastructure upgrades to help the mission’s giant electrical load.

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In keeping with Alliant Vitality, which is able to serve the ability, the work consists of new utility substations, transmission enhancements and regional community enhancements wanted to make sure dependable service for each the info middle and surrounding communities. The utility says the investments align with its broader grid-modernization technique throughout Wisconsin.

Meta additionally pledged $15 million to Alliant’s Hometown Care Vitality Fund, which offers energy-cost help to space households. State officers mentioned the contribution displays the corporate’s dedication to partaking with the group through the upcoming multiyear building part, which is able to coincide with rising regional energy demand.

Wisconsin Financial Improvement Corp. estimates the mission will generate as much as 1,000 skilled-trade jobs at peak building and greater than 100 permanent positions. Beaver Dam Commerce Park has been a licensed growth web site since 2019, and state officers say Meta’s choice confirms the long-term effort to prime websites for expertise and superior manufacturing funding.

Water, Cooling and Environmental Design

Dry-cooling methods depend on air-cooled warmth exchangers to take away server warmth with out evaporating water, a shift that may reduce operational water use dramatically in contrast with conventional cooling-tower methods.

Graphic courtesy of Adobe

The Beaver Dam campus will use dry-cooling expertise, eliminating operational water demand for cooling methods.

Not like evaporative methods used at many hyperscale campuses, dry-cooling strikes warmth by air-cooled warmth exchangers, sharply decreasing water necessities throughout data-center operations.

Meta additionally dedicated to restoring 100% of the water consumed by the ability to native watersheds—an more and more scrutinized difficulty as AI-driven data-center growth accelerates throughout the U.S. The corporate additionally introduced a serious conservation initiative tied to the mission.

Meta will companion with the wetlands conservation group Geese Limitless, together with different environmental organizations, to revive 570 acres of wetlands and prairie across the web site.

Meta mentioned about 175 acres can be preserved for long-term conservation by agreements with landowners and environmental organizations.

State officers introduced that restoration work will start concurrently with early web site building and that monitoring agreements will lengthen past the 2027 operational date.

Financial Progress vs. Transparency Considerations

Whereas state and native leaders have framed the funding as a regional financial increase, the announcement has drawn scrutiny from residents involved about groundwater impacts and the transparency of the approval course of.

Wisconsin Public Radio reported {that a} small group of protesters gathered on the Nov. 12 announcement occasion in Beaver Dam, elevating questions on siting selections and long-term environmental impacts. Nonetheless, Beaver Dam Mayor Bobbi Marck mentioned the mission’s critiques had been dealt with in compliance with regulatory necessities.

“From the town’s finish, all of these permits had been in line they usually had been following the regulation,” Marck instructed TMJ4 Information, including that officers will “belief, however confirm” by inspections because the mission progresses. Marck additionally emphasised the mission’s advantages, telling a neighborhood TV reporter she is “excited for the positive things this mission brings to Beaver Dam, together with the elevated tax base and extra jobs.”

Nonetheless, some residents stay cautious, saying they need further readability on water-use modeling, aquifer impacts and conservation commitments.

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Latest analyses estimate that cooling and working giant information facilities—significantly these dealing with AI workloads—can devour water at ranges akin to a small city’s provide. One 2025 research discovered that, with out environment friendly cooling, water demand throughout AI-era information facilities in water-stressed areas might enhance by greater than 50%. One other current evaluation warned that data-center buildouts might increase water stress in overburdened basins by as much as 17%.

Nonetheless, below the town’s growth settlement, Alliant Vitality and state regulators say these considerations have been largely mitigated, noting that dry-cooling considerably reduces water demand in contrast with typical hyperscale amenities.

Mortenson Hones Area of interest in Burgeoning Area

Meta’s selection in naming Mortenson as the overall contractor additional extends the Minneapolis-based builder’s portfolio of enormous North American information middle initiatives. Whereas the contractor has not launched an in depth building schedule, the agency’s different work for Meta usually handles early civil work, utility integration, basis and structural sequencing, enclosure packages and mechanical, electrical and plumbing procurement for related campuses.

The Beaver Dam web site presents a number of infrastructure-focused challenges widespread to current data-center builds, together with speedy electric-load onboarding, coordination of recent substations, high-tolerance structural and mechanical methods engineered for AI-optimized operations and integration of dry-cooling and water-restoration methods.

Meta and Alliant say early work will middle on utility enablement and grading the 500-acre web site for main basis and metal packages. With building anticipated to span a number of years, Mortenson and Meta plan to launch further particulars on contracting, native hiring and infrastructure phasing in early 2026.

The announcement comes amid continued nationwide development in information middle building pushed by AI and cloud computing demand. Wisconsin officers say the state’s funding in energy infrastructure, transmission capability and authorized industrial websites positions it to compete for added hyperscale initiatives.

“Wisconsin is a frontrunner in the case of biohealth and superior manufacturing industries, and we’re excited to maintain constructing upon this custom as we turn into the home to new world-changing technology,” mentioned Gov. Tony Evers (D).

He added the funding will “assist guarantee Wisconsin is assembly the calls for of the twenty first century and creating good, family-supporting jobs to help the workforce within the Beaver Dam group and throughout the better area.”