Neighbors concerned with water consumption as Port Washington data center construction to start next month

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — Construction will begin next month on new water and sewer lines to support an $8 billion data center campus in Port Washington, marking the next phase of a project that has drawn months of concerns from residents.

At its meeting Tuesday evening, the Port Washington Common Council awarded an estimated $6 million contract to extend water mains and sewer lines about a mile to the campus site. The project will be funded through the tax-increment financing district created as part of the data center campus construction.

The infrastructure work comes less than two months after the council approved the massive data center project that will fill nearly 2,000 acres north of the city's downtown.

According to Mayor Ted Neitzke IV, the data center will use the equivalent