OpenAI, Oracle to run Stargate Port data center

The Port Washington data center is being developed for OpenAI and Oracle as part of the Stargate program, a $500 billion investment intended to drive the creation of artificial intelligence in the United States over the next four years, Vantage Data Centers announced Wednesday as people continued to protest the data center campus at city meetings.

Vantage’s Lighthouse data center in Port represents an investment of $15 billion and is part of OpenAI and Oracle’s partnership to create as much as 4.5 gigawatts of Stargate capacity in the U.S., according to the announcement. 

Dana Adams, president of Vantage Data Centers North America, said during an interview Tuesday that the campus is one of four sites being developed by OpenAI and Oracle — the others are two in Texas, one of which is being developed by Vantage, and the other in New Mexico.

The Port center, she said, is not the largest of the data centers, although “they are all somewhat comparable in size.”

The campus will feature four “cutting edge” data centers on Port’s north side that will provide close to a gigawatt of AI capacity, according to Vantage, and add $2.7 billion to the regional gross domestic product. 

A groundbreaking for the 672-acre project will likely occur in mid-November, although early site preparation work may start earlier, Mark Freeman, Vantage’s vice president of global marketing, said. The campus is to be completed in 2028.

The project is expected to create more than 4,000 skilled construction jobs, most of which will be union jobs, and once the campus is complete, Vantage and Oracle will create more than 1,000 long-term jobs, according to the announcement.

“These are very high-quality, good-paying jobs that provide a lot of career opportunities, great benefits,” Adams said. “We shouldn’t underestimate the quality of these jobs.”

Vantage will employ about 300 of these long-term employees, she said, adding the average salary for these positions is $116,000, while Oracle will hire about 700 employees for the Port campus.

The building project is so large, Adams said, that Vantage has hired four general contractors to direct the work. The company is also “ramping up” its project management team, which will likely number about 50 people locally by the end of January.

Adams said the updated numbers for the Port campus came as plans for the project were refined and updated by Vantage, Oracle and OpenAI.

“While we’re investing $15 billion in this campus, the customer (Oracle and OpenAI) is investing two to three times that in equipment going inside this building,” Adams said. “Once a customer is in a location, it’s highly likely it’s going to stay there for a long time.”

That’s because the equipment is difficult to move and generally can’t be shut down, she said.

The campus, Adams said, will be used to advance AI technology.

“It really puts Wisconsin on the map as being part of the evolution of AI technology,” she said. “This is a major part of what’s driving our national economy. For Wisconsin to be part of that and reap the rewards is, I think, an amazing opportunity.”

Vantage will pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the campus.

“From a power use standpoint, it’s a very efficient data center,” Adams said.

The campus will enable the development of new zero-emission energy capacity in Wisconsin, including solar, wind and battery storage.

Vantage will support the generation of two gigawatts of new, renewable power, 70% of which will be used by the Port campus and 30% across the grid, with the cost of both the generation and transmission of the power paid by the company, according to the announcement. 

“This is all being done in a way that protects Wisconsin ratepayers,” Adams said.

While the route used by new transmission lines for the project has become a point of contention, Adams said Vantage’s goal is to use “as much existing right of way and infrastructure as possible.”

The total electrical capacity of the project is 1.3 gigawatts. Of that, about 902 megawatts will be used to power the equipment and servers needed by Oracle and OpenAI, with the rest used for equipment  such as mechanical systems and lights.

An additional 600 megawatts will be added to the electrical grid to be used by customers in Wisconsin.

The campus will be a “net water positive” facility, cleaning and improving more water than it uses, Adams said, with the average water use for the campus of about 22,000 gallons a day — the equivalent of 65 houses — for such things as toilets, sinks and irrigation, although the city has agreed to supply Vantage with as much as 1.2 million gallons a day. 

The closed loop liquid cooling system used for the campus is something Vantage has used for many years, she said, and it cycles the same water through the system repeatedly.

While many people are concerned Vantage will abandon the campus after a relatively short time, Adams said that’s not likely, noting the company has campuses that have been operating for 15 years and are “still very active and vibrant and full of customers. What we’ve seen is constant growth. Infrastructure is infrastructure. We build these campuses in such a way they’re future proof. 

“Our customer has made a long-term commitment to this campus and we believe the need for infrastructure in this country is only going to continue to grow.”

Freeman added, “The use of technology is not slowing down any time soon. It’s only increasing.”

Vantage’s announcement comes as  area residents continued to lobby the City of Port to stop the data center and oppose the formation of a tax incremental financing district to help pay for $458.6 million in infrastructure for the campus.

Formation of the TIF district was reviewed Thursday, Oct. 16, by the Joint Review Board, which is made up of representatives of the city, Port-Saukville School District, Ozaukee County, Milwaukee Area Technical College and a citizen, and endorsed by the city’s Plan Commission.

The commission’s recommendation got its initial review by the Common Council on Tuesday during a meeting attended by more than 150 people at the Holiday Inn Express banquet center to accommodate the crowd. Aldermen are expected to act on the TIF district when they meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, at the hotel.

Officials moved this week’s council meeting to the hotel and will hold the next several meetings there to accommodate the large crowds that have shown up to oppose the data center citing concerns about energy and water use, environmental issues and the process used by the city. 

“I demand you stop ignoring your residents,” Tracy Finch, 1142 Portview Dr., Port Washington, told the council. “You continue to ignore the most important question — what happens to residents living next to this data center? This is not a done deal.”

Katie Beilfuss, 1853 Cold Springs Rd., Saukville, said the data center doesn’t belong in a community like Port.

“There is no upside for the City of Port Washington,” she said. “Residents are begging you to stop it. This is not how local government is supposed to work. It should be democracy in its purest form.

“You are intent on transferring rolling farmland to a massive storage facility.  Wisconsin is America’s dairyland, not data land.”

Much of the opposition to the data center in recent weeks has come from residents of the towns of Fredonia and Saukville who are upset that new high-voltage power lines needed to bring electricity to the campus will go through their communities.

Mayor Ted Neitzke read a letter and a proclamation that he is sending to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission asking that these routes not be used due to their impact on residents, the environment and the cost. Instead, an alternative route that would primarily use existing routes should be used, the documents state.

Neitzke noted that State Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin and Rep. Rob Brooks have also endorsed this stand.

Several of those attending Tuesday’s meeting lauded this position, but Arlis Feidt, 230 Meadowbrook Dr., Fredonia, asked if that is enough.

“The question is, will they listen?” he said. “I think if you had voted no on those (recently approved) annexations, you could have put a stop or at least a pause to this. The point is we do not want the data center.”