Dozens of people packed a Mishicot restaurant to voice their opposition toward an artificial intelligence data center being built in the area, Jan. 26, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANITOWOC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Tuesday night’s Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors meeting was standing room only, as officials voted on whether or not to impose a moratorium on data centers.
Support for those who spoke against data centers during the public comment portion of the meeting was overwhelming.
District 12 Supervisor Kevin Behnke said these discussions felt familiar.
“This isn’t different than what we’ve had in the past. Back with windmills, back when I first started in politics, the cell towers. That was the big thing was the cell towers,” he said.
Originally, the moratorium was written for one year. An amendment changed it to 18 months. Another amendment clarified on lines 57 & 58 “with the capability of managing more than one petabyte of data.”
Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to impose the moratorium. It allows the county to gather more information and make sure ordinances and proper zoning are prepared, should companies look to the county for a data center in the future.
“There’s a lot of work that would have to be done in order for a data center to come. But ordinance changes? Yeah, that’s going to take all of a year to get those things straightened out,” said Behnke.
How did we get here?
Two Creeks, Two Rivers and Mishicot joined together to petition the county for the moratorium in February.
Previously, Town of Mishicot chairperson Dean Anhalt said, “At this point, from a municipality standpoint, we’re not out to stop the [artificial intelligence] centers. We’re out to put in the rules that we need to safeguard our communities.”
In March, Manitowoc County’s Planning and Park Commission approved a measure that would “enact a moratorium on the receipt of applications and the granting of all permits or approvals for the placement or construction of data centers.” The ordinance passed unanimously on the five-person board.
How do moratoriums impact the process of data center projects?
“If the moratorium goes through, as it has been described to me and from what I’ve read, what it would do is, it would put guidelines in place relative to planning and zoning, so that the communities that are talking about bringing in data centers really know what those guidelines and the rules of the road are. So, we look at it as a positive when they get completed,” said Aaron Bilyeu, Cloverleaf Infrastructure chief development officer.
Bilyeu said the moratoriums he is aware of are still ongoing and haven’t been completed yet.
He added, “I think we’re taking a wait-and-see approach on these. We’re optimistic, because the language in them does specifically say that they’re taking time to understand what the issues are and put guidelines in place. What we haven’t seen is outright bans on data centers. That would be something that we would obviously be more concerned about. We are willing to work with communities to establish guidelines for data centers. That’s really the intent of what the moratoriums that we’ve seen really are about.”
Behnke did note the centers bring value, saying, “There’s things that are attractive. When you’re talking about total assess value, it’s very attractive to the local municipalities. Port Washington is going to benefit financially, very large.”
However, he also noted potential negatives, specifically highlighting concerns about energy rates. Behnke’s message was this vote does not represent the county being for or against the centers — it’s simply a pause on any potential discussions.
Behnke did say that property owners in northern portions of Manitowoc County have been contacted about potential data centers, but the county itself has not been contacted at this time.
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