A massive data center campus being developed in Port Washington will be part of a push to expand U.S. artificial intelligence capacity by OpenAI and Oracle.
Vantage Data Centers, which was previously the only known company behind the project, had originally said it would spend $8 billion on the development. In a new announcement Wednesday, the three companies said they now plan to invest more than $15 billion at the campus, which will include four data center buildings.
OpenAI is the company behind ChatGPT; Oracle is a software and cloud computing company. The Port Washington location is part of the companies’ Stargate program, a $500 billion national push to expand AI. That initiative was announced in January by President Donald Trump.
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“We look at this as a very exciting opportunity, both from the investment, from the many sustainable features of this campus, and then as well as the impact on jobs,” said Dana Adams, president of North America for Vantage Data Centers. “And then the fact that it puts Wisconsin on the map really as part of the fourth industrial revolution and enabling a lot of this technology from within the state.”
OpenAI and Oracle’s data center campus in Port Washington joins sites in Texas and New Mexico as part of the Stargate program. It is the only Midwest site in the program. The tech giants recently agreed to develop 4.5 gigawatts of additional power capacity for the initiative, according to a July news post from OpenAI.
“Expanding Stargate to Wisconsin is another major step toward building the infrastructure that will help ensure everyone can benefit from AI,” Peter Hoeschele, OpenAI’s vice president of industrial compute, said in a statement.
Wednesday’s announcement said the data center campus in Port Washington, named “Lighthouse,” could create more than 4,000 construction jobs. After construction, Adams said OpenAI and Oracle will have around 700 jobs at the campus, in addition to around 330 Vantage Data Centers employees at the roughly 670-acre campus.
“That will be a very robust team there that will be looking after the campus as a whole,” Adams said.
Rebecca Gries, the executive director of Milwaukee 7 Regional Partnership, said she expects people to move to southeast Wisconsin to work at the data center campus.
“These are the types of companies that pull people from around the country because (people) want to work for them,” Gries said.
Port Washington Mayor Ted Neitzke IV wasn’t available for an interview Thursday. But in a statement, he said the investment will lead to “long-term economic ripple effects across the region.”
“This investment will allow us to further strengthen public services and community development, enhancing the quality of life for our residents,” Neitzke wrote.
A groundbreaking for the campus is expected to be held in November. Construction could be complete in 2028, according to Vantage.
The Port Washington Common Council approved the development agreement for the project in August. However, residents have shown up to recent public meetings to raise concerns about the water and energy demand for the campus, as well as the environmental impact. Tuesday’s Port Washington Common Council meeting was even moved to a banquet hall at a local hotel to accommodate more people.
“I am here today not to plead, but to demand that you stop ignoring your residents,” Port Washington resident Tracy Finch said during that meeting. “The people of Port Washington have made it clear that they oppose this project.”
Local construction groups have voiced support for the development.
“These (construction jobs) are career-building jobs, not temporary work,” Steve Buffalo, the financial secretary and chief of staff for International Union Of Operating Engineers 139, said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Wednesday’s statement from Vantage said the data center buildings will use a “closed-loop liquid cooling system.”
“It’s actually a very water-conservative, very water-sustainable campus,” Adams said in an interview.
The four data center buildings are expected to need 1.3 gigawatts of electricity. A $1.4 billion transmission line project from American Transmission Co. is being proposed to help support the project.
Wednesday’s announcement said Vantage Data Centers is “underwriting 100 percent of the power infrastructure investment with a dedicated electricity rate from WEC Energy Group utility We Energies.”
“This proposed rate is designed to protect other customers from any price increases from the new investments to serve Lighthouse,” the announcement said.
Residents who are opposed to the transmission line project are worried that the project would mean lower property values and disruptions to wildlife in the area. Some residents have started a website against the project.
“Many of us treasure the pristine rural character of this part of Ozaukee County,” the website says.
The Port Washington Common Council could vote on the tax incremental district, or TID, for the data center development in November.
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