May 9, 2026
By TIM HUNDT
VERNON COUNTY, Wis. – Given the recent explosion of data center projects in Wisconsin, including one that was recently rejected in nearby Grant County, the Vernon County General Government Committee is considering taking up a regulatory roadblock against large scale data centers, but they are doing so while navigating a sudden leadership vacuum in their legal department.
During the May 6 committee meeting supervisors discussed drafting an ordinance or a temporary moratorium to regulate the siting of massive data centers. The push for local regulation takes place while with the Maribell high voltage transmission line is proposed to cut through the Driftless region. However the committee was forced to debate these complex regulatory actions earlier this week without Corporation Counsel Nikki Swayne in the room.
Swayne is not a county employee but is under contract for legal services with the county and recently submitted notice she was exercising her option to end the contract with a 90 day notice. Swayne was not in attendance at the General Government Committee meeting on May 6, but did submit a written report and input on several issues that had been requested by Eggen.
The decision to not have Swayne present drew sharp criticism from Supervisor Wayde Lawler who was recently removed from the committee during a post election reorganization.
“You will note that corporation counsel is not in the room,” said Lawler. “This is the committee that corporation counsel reports to and you will note that the other staff members that report other departments that report to this committee are in the room”.
Lawler pointed out that the county was tackling heavy legal issues including data centers and joining neighboring counties in a utility lawsuit but was trying to do so on the cheap.
“At Corporation Counsel current rate and if we assume three hour meetings for general you are talking about less than $5,000 dollars a year,” said Lawler. “It also raises serious questions about the legal risk and liability that this committee, and therefore the full county, would be exposed to not having adequate legal counsel at the table”.
Rather than attend Swayne provided a written legal memo that Eggen read aloud after Lawler and Supervisor Alycann Taylor (previous general government committee chair) insisted her report be included in the record. The memo contained a warning from Swayne regarding the dangers of the committee trying to interpret written legal advice in a vacuum.
“Written advice provided in isolation carries inherent limitations and I cannot be fully accountable for guidance given without access to a deliberate context that would inform it,” wrote Swayne. “It bears noting as well that preparing a comprehensive written legal Memorandum of this kind is timely sensitive. The committee is encouraged to reconsider this practice”.
Without Swayne present to answer specific questions the committee turned to Zoning and Sanitation Administrator Matt Albright to explore how the county could legally control data center development. Eggen explained he wanted to establish ordinances dictating setbacks from navigable streams and local residences.
Albright informed the committee that state statutes clearly allow cities and villages to establish a two year moratorium on development while local leaders draft comprehensive zoning rules, which the county is in the process of drafting.
“Under this state statute that I referenced you can implement that moratorium, up to a two year moratorium,” said Albright. “Because you are working on putting zoning in place, but you have to have a zoning ordinance after two years”.
However Albright noted he was unsure if state law extended that same moratorium power to county governments. That distinction is critical in Vernon County where countywide zoning was historically rejected and many townships remain entirely unzoned. Vernon County currently has six townships that have their own zoning regulations.
“I am going to figure out, can we do this on a county level or is it going to have to be each specific township,” said Albright. “And that is going to determine a lot of different ways to go”.
The discussion ro regulate data centers comes at the same time there is an ongoing battle against the Maribell project a 765 kilovolt transmission line proposed by Dairyland Power Cooperative and NextEra Transmission. The developers argue the massive infrastructure is necessary to ensure regional grid reliability.
Local officials counter that the power demand is actually being driven by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and the massive data centers required to support it. During previous meetings Supervisor Mary Henry warned that developers are specifically targeting regions like Vernon County because of the lack of zoning the cool climate and the abundant fresh water needed to cool their equipment.
Swayne addressed this exact threat in her written memo noting that the state legislature recently introduced four major bills regarding data center development.
“Data center developers specifically target communities with minimal local regulation,” wrote Swayne. “A proactive regulatory framework at the county level the local level or both materially changes a developer site selection calculus and gives local government meaningful control over whether where and under what conditions such facilities are built”.
The Committee directed Albright to consult with Swayne to determine if the county possesses the statutory authority to enact a moratorium on data centers.
“My homework is I am going to figure out can we do this on a county level or is it going to have to be each specific township,” said Albright.
Committee Chair Dave Eggen instructed Albright to communicate with Corporation Counsel to find regulatory language that would work for the county. Eggen asked Albright to report his findings back to the committee members through email rather than waiting for the next meeting.
Albright said he would be traveling to various township meetings over the next couple of months. He told the supervisors he planned to discuss the moratorium concept directly with local town boards during those visits. Because Vernon County is largely unzoned Albright explained that individual townships may need to pass their own interim zoning ordinances to protect their rural land from sudden data center development if it turns out the county lacks the authority to act on their behalf.
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