Cottage Grove WI 18-month data center moratorium (2026)
Village of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin — 18-Month Data Center Moratorium Adopted Unanimously Because Dane County's Own Pause Does Not Reach Villages With Their Own Zoning Codes (July 20, 2026)
Cottage Grove, WI · Village of Cottage Grove, Wis. — 18-month data center moratorium (adopted July 20, 2026)
- Status
- In effect
- Expires
- January 20, 2028
- Applies to
- Developers seeking approval for new data center development within the Village of Cottage Grove
- Enforced by
- Village of Cottage Grove planning and zoning / Cottage Grove Village Board
The Village of Cottage Grove board unanimously passed an eighteen-month moratorium on new data center development on July 20, 2026 — one of the longest local pauses in this dataset. Board members said the point is to give the village time to gather information about data center impacts and develop best practices for regulating them, and also to give a new Dane County task force studying data centers, on which Cottage Grove has representation, time to produce guidance for municipalities. The reason the village needed its own moratorium at all is the useful part. Dane County had already passed a temporary pause on data centers, but that county pause DOES NOT APPLY to municipalities that have their own zoning codes — and Cottage Grove does. A county-level moratorium in Wisconsin, as in many states, reaches only the territory the county actually zones. Any reader assuming a county pause covers everything inside the county's boundaries would be wrong, and the gap is exactly where an incorporated village sits. Wisconsin had a wide moratorium wave in 2026: temporary bans were in effect in Green, Dodge, Door and Manitowoc counties, Madison had passed one, Chippewa County adopted a twelve-month pause in August and Eau Claire County began drafting in September. Democratic state lawmakers had proposed a statewide moratorium in February 2026.
Who is protected: Village of Cottage Grove residents in Dane County, Wisconsin
Legal detail
Village of Cottage Grove, Wis. (Dane County) — 18-MONTH moratorium on new data center development, approved UNANIMOUSLY by the Village Board on July 20, 2026. PURPOSE: time for the village to gather information on data center impacts and develop regulatory best practices, AND time for a NEW DANE COUNTY TASK FORCE studying data centers — on which Cottage Grove has representation — to develop guidance for municipalities. THE JURISDICTIONAL GAP IS THE POINT OF THIS ENTRY: Dane County had ALREADY passed a temporary pause on data centers, but that county measure DOES NOT APPLY to municipalities with their own zoning codes, of which Cottage Grove is one. In Wisconsin, as in most states, county zoning authority extends only to territory the county actually zones; incorporated villages and cities administering their own codes sit outside it. A county-level moratorium therefore does NOT blanket the county's geographic area, and the uncovered remainder is precisely where population and development pressure concentrate. This is the same class of limit recorded on Chippewa County WI 12-month data center moratorium (2026), which reaches only the six towns that adopted county zoning. DURATION: 18 months is at the long end of the local distribution here, matching Sierra County NM 18-month data center moratorium (2026). WISCONSIN CONTEXT: temporary bans in effect in GREEN, DODGE, DOOR and MANITOWOC counties; MADISON had passed a moratorium; Chippewa County adopted 12 months on 2026-08-11; Eau Claire County began drafting in September 2026; Democratic state lawmakers proposed a STATEWIDE moratorium in February 2026. MOST OF THESE WISCONSIN MEASURES ARE NOT INDEXED and are recorded as leads.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | Cottage Grove, WI |
|---|---|
| Level | City / local |
| Strength | Stronger |
| Enacted | July 20, 2026 |
| Citation | Village of Cottage Grove, Wis. — 18-month data center moratorium (adopted July 20, 2026) |
| Private right of action | No, agency enforcement only |
| Penalties | No new data center development may be approved during the 18-month moratorium |
| Topics | data-center siting and energy · consumer protection · government use of AI |
| News report | Cottage Grove passes temporary ban on data centers, follows growing trend statewide — WMTV 15 News |
Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere
- Superior WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Dane County WI Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- Madison WI Data Center Moratorium (1-year) · In effect
- Manitowoc County WI Data Center Moratorium · In effect
- WA SB 5982 (Data Center / Clean Energy) · In effect
- Dayton OH data center moratorium (180-day, Apr 2026) · In effect
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