LETTER: City is failing citizens seeking help on data center troubles

To Ozaukee Press:

Port Washington residents deserve honesty from their elected leaders, and right now they are not getting it.

The city’s recent Q&A fact sheet claims the data centers will not raise our power bills. Yet, We Energies has already announced a 4.7% rate increase in 2027, driven by new energy infrastructure, major grid upgrades, rising electricity demand, much of it fueled by data center growth and inflation. Those are their words, not mine.

To tell residents that this project will have no impact on future rates simply does not pass the credibility test. Any new power lines or grid expansions required for this development should be paid for by Vantage and other developers, not by the taxpayers and homeowners of Port Washington.

But the concerns go far beyond rising bills. Residents are living with confusion, anxiety and genuine emotional distress because there is no clear, trustworthy way to report problems. Complaints are being bounced between seven different entities, including two that many people no longer trust.

This is not a functioning system. Port Washington needs one centralized complaint department—one number, one accountable person, one unbiased log of every concern. Without this, the suffering will continue, and the city will continue to appear unprepared and unresponsive.

People are hurting because of decisions made under current city administration.

Families are losing sleep. They are worried about their health. They are watching the value of their homes, their largest investment, slip away. These are not abstract policy disagreements; these are real human consequences.

When residents feel dismissed or ridiculed for raising legitimate concerns, trust erodes. Taxpayers should not have to fight this hard just to be heard. They expect safe roads, clean air and leadership that protects those basic rights.

Transparency has been promised but not delivered. A construction timeline was presented at a meeting a couple months ago, with the assurance that it would clear up confusion. Now it has vanished, no longer in the hallway of City Hall, no longer online, simply removed. When information appears once and then disappears without explanation, it creates the impression that something is being hidden.

It is time for the city to take a responsible pause. Port Washington should enact a moratorium on future data centers until our community has a clear, evidence-based understanding of their impacts on energy costs, infrastructure, public health and quality of life.

Other communities across the country have already taken this step. We should not be rushing ahead blindly while residents are still struggling to get basic answers.

This is a moment for accountability, not defensiveness. The people of Port Washington need leadership that recognizes the impact of its choices and is willing to acknowledge harm and commit to making things right. Admitting mistakes is not weakness, it is leadership.

Tracy Finch

Port Washington