Data Centers Have a Wisconsin Problem, and Marquette's Latest Poll Shows How Fast It Grew

In October 2025, the Marquette Law School Poll found that 55% of Wisconsin voters believe data center costs outweigh the benefits.

By September 2026, it was 74%.

Data centers clearly have a Wisconsin problem, and Marquette’s latest poll shows how fast it grew.

Who Asked, and How

A Marquette Law School Poll, which the law school at Marquette University runs, created a set of questions about data centers.

Among the 843 registered voters Marquette surveyed across Wisconsin from September 16 to 23, 2026, 74% said data center costs outweigh the benefits.

Marquette released the results on September 30, 2026.

They drew names from the state’s voter registration list and from a panel of people who’ve agreed to take surveys.

Voters answered online or by phone.

Every poll has a margin of error, so you shouldn’t read much into a small change between polls. But the findings are far from a small change.

These are the poll’s findings on data centers, starting with how fast the numbers moved.

Rise, Poll by Poll

Marquette’s release tracks six readings on data centers between October 2025 and September 2026.

The earliest reading, from mid-October 2025, had 44% of voters siding with benefits.

By February 2026, 70% said costs outweigh benefits, and 29% said benefits do.

That’s a 15-point rise in about four months.

March 2026 barely moved, with 69% saying costs outweigh benefits and 30% saying benefits do.

July 2026 rose to 76% for costs.

August reached 78%.

September came in at 74%, with 25% saying benefits outweigh costs.

Put another way, September’s 74% is roughly three voters in four.

From October 2025’s 55%, that’s 19 points in 11 months.

It wasn’t a straight line, since March and September each came in below the poll before it.

If you read the whole run, you’ll see a direction instead of a single reading.

What Marquette’s Data Center Question Asked

Marquette’s data center question opens by noting that several large data centers are being proposed or under construction in Wisconsin.

It then asks which statement comes closer to your opinion, even if neither is exactly right.

One says the benefits outweigh the costs, and the other says the costs outweigh the benefits.

Neither statement names a cost, so the 74% could include voters thinking about water, electric bills, land or something else.

Water Worry

Water use led the list of data center costs in the September poll, named by 55% of respondents who could pick up to two.

The TV station WISN reported in February 2026 that 52% of voters named strain on water resources as their biggest concern.

WISN described it as what voters were most concerned about, a different framing from September’s pick-two list.

A Brookings analysis says a typical data center uses 300,000 gallons of water a day.

That equals about 1,000 households.

Large data centers can use an estimated 5 million gallons a day, according to the same analysis.

The poll’s wording is high water use straining local water resources, so you can’t tell whose water voters are picturing.

Electric Bills and Farmland

Voters ranked higher electricity costs from data centers second, at 49%, close to half of respondents.

Replacing farm and rural land with industrial buildings came third, at 35%.

In April 2026, Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission approved a rate structure for We Energies, Wisconsin Watch reported.

Large data centers under it must cover the full cost of new power generators and fuel.

It applies to data centers that use more than 100 megawatts at peak demand.

If you’re a We Energies customer, the commission’s stated aim is that you don’t subsidize those data centers, though transmission costs are still shared.

The poll asked what voters think about costs, not what any utility charges, so it can’t tell you what your bill will do.

Smaller Worries

Data centers drew three other complaints in the September poll, each near one voter in eight.

Few permanent jobs drew 13%.

Tax subsidies that aren’t worth it and noise from cooling systems each drew 12%.

If you line them up against water use, each trails by more than 40 points.

Moratorium Question

In September, Marquette also asked about a ban on data center construction for at least a year.

Roughly two voters in three favored it, at 68%, while 32% opposed it.

Marquette asked the moratorium question of the full sample in September and of a half sample in August.

In August, the split was 67% in favor and 33% opposed.

The release describes the September result as hardly changed from August.

A moratorium is a pause on building, so the question asks where you stand on new data centers.

Ask yourself whether you’d answer the same way if the site were near your town.

Benefits Side

The September poll gave data centers some credit too, with 25% saying the benefits outweigh the costs.

Voters could pick up to two benefits.

Keeping the United States ahead in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and streaming led at 28%.

The digital economy’s reliance on data centers drew 25%.

Permanent technical jobs drew 23%, construction jobs 21% and tax revenue 20%.

Psst! How much do you know about data centers, water and electricity? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.

Quiz

Data Center Pop Quiz

Answer these questions on data centers, water, electricity and polls. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?

Question 1 of 8

According to Brookings, a large data center can use an estimated 5 million gallons of water a day. That equals the needs of a town of up to how many residents?