Meta's $1 Billion Wisconsin Data Center Developed in Secret Through Municipal Non-Disclosure Agreements
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Summary
The article investigates how Meta (Facebook's parent company) secretly negotiated a $1 billion data center project in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, with local officials signing non-disclosure agreements to keep the development hidden from the public for over a year. The piece examines the lack of transparency in massive data center deals, Wisconsin's legislative proposals to increase transparency, and the implications for local communities when billion-dollar corporations operate in secrecy with municipal governments.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledIn a city that lists 'communication matters' atop its core values, officials took steps to keep the project hidden for more than a year.
How did a $1 billion, 520-acre data center proposed by one of the world's richest companies go unnoticed in tiny Beaver Dam, Wisconsin?
Now Meta, the trillion-dollar company that owns Facebook and Instagram, is building a complex as big as 12 football fields in a city with a population of 16,000.
Massive data center proposals are often developed in secret. Wisconsin has now joined several states with legislative proposals to make the process more transparent.
A key reason: In a city that lists 'communication matters' atop its core values, officials took steps to keep the project hidden for more than a year.
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