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Mount Pleasant data center noise complaints, lawsuit filed
In Mount Pleasant, some people who live near Microsoft's data center say it's just too loud, and they want something done.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. - In Mount Pleasant, some people who live near Microsoft's data center say it's just too loud—and they want something done.
A class action lawsuit against Microsoft’s new Fairwater Data Center was created earlier this month.
Data center noise
What we know:
It was filed by residents who live near the center who have been annoyed with the noises it has been making since it went online in April.
Many neighbors agree, but some don’t see the noise as an issue.
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Shannon Hein can see a lot of nature and enjoy the quiet from her Mount Pleasant backyard.
Fairwater
"Our reasoning for moving here is because of the peace, surrounded by the corn fields. It was just a peaceful place to be," said Hein.
But not much farther, she can see, and hear, Microsoft’s data center.
"The noise has just been very disturbing, outrageous, can’t keep the windows open while I’m working due to the disturbance," she added.
The noise continued past the center’s construction. Hein says there is a constant low hum from turbines and generators since the center went online in April. And she’s not the only one annoyed.
Lawsuit filed
Class action lawsuit
What we know:
Three residents near the data center filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft earlier this month.
It’s for the same noise Hein has heard since construction finished.
Hein supports the lawsuit so much, she is filling out a form to join it.
"It’s up to us, we have to be the voice of our community," Hein added.
They allege 1,000 residents within about a mile and a half of the data center right here are also impacted by the sounds from the 315-acre facility. The residents who created the lawsuit allege the noise is so bad, they can’t enjoy their homes anymore.
Fairwater
Other neighbor weighs in
The other side:
But Scott Duff, who lives on the same block as Hein, just under a mile from the data center, doesn’t see the need for the lawsuit.
"I don’t know what everyone is talking about," said Duff. "From the standpoint of being right next to it, it doesn’t really bother me."
Duff was annoyed by the construction, but nothing after that.
"The whole AI thing, we have to deal with, and we have to stay ahead of. I’m absolutely not against that," added Duff.
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But for Hein and the neighbors she has talked to – the noise and other construction factors are so bad, they would rather move out of the home than continue to deal with it.
"This is our home, we love it here, we love our neighbors, so it’s a very very difficult decision. But at the same aspect of it, what we moved here for is being taken away," said Hein.
Data center pushback; Sheboygan voters push TIF limits
Sheboygan residents have launched a petition to require voter approval for large TIF districts as some push back on potential data centers before any plans are filed.
Microsoft response
The other side:
Microsoft is aware of the lawsuit against them. A Microsoft spokesperson told FOX6 that quote,
"Microsoft is committed to being a good neighbor in the communities where we build, own, and operate our datacenters."
The data center has no plans to slow down.
In the next few years, Fairwater Data Center may require as much as triple the energy they’re using now.
The Source: FOX6 spoke to neighbors around Fairwater, and received a response from Microsoft to produce this story.