Tuesday, December 1, 2026
12pm - 1:00pm
Online via Zoom
Registration is required
Members can register a guest
The December Noon Zoom will focus in on the growing concerns over data center construction in Wisconsin. What are the pros and cons of data centers? Should we be concerned about their impacts when it comes to energy and water use? What about their implication on taxes?
Terry Shelton, former city editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, will discuss these issues with two guests from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. President Jason Stein and Senior Research Associate Tyler Byrnes will share information from their latest report: Grounding a Charged Debate: Data Centers in Wisconsin and a report released earlier this year - Data Centers May Change Wiscnsin's Utility Landscape
Noon Zooms are a new PLATO Madison offering available to members and their guests. These occasional virtual discussions will feature a host and guest expert discussing an issue in the news with the opportunity for attendees to join in the discussion. The offering is free, but you need to register to receive the Zoom link.
Jason Stein has worked with the Wisconsin Policy Forum since 2018, serving as President since July 2024 and prior to that as Vice President and Research Director. In his time with the Forum, his reports have received multiple awards from the Governmental Research Association.
Before joining the Forum, Jason worked as a Capitol reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and for the Wisconsin State Journal. He is the author with Patrick Marley of More than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions and the Fight for Wisconsin. His reporting was recognized by journalism groups such as the American Society of News Editors, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. Milwaukee Magazine also named him as one of the city’s most influential media figures in 2015.
He serves on the board of Neighborhood House in Madison and previously served on the board of the Government Research Association as well as the board president of both the Wisconsin Capitol Correspondents Association and of The Daily Cardinal, the University of Wisconsin-Madison student newspaper. He speaks English and Spanish and holds a master’s degree in journalism from UW-Madison and bachelor’s degree in classical languages from the University of Kansas.
Tyler Byrnes is a Senior Research Associate at the Forum. He was awarded his PhD at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Byrnes most recently worked at the conservation nonprofit Gathering Waters to identify the fiscal impact of conservation land purchases on local governments. From 2008 to 2016, he served as an Executive Budget and Policy Analyst at the Wisconsin Department of Administration, working directly with former Gov. Scott Walker and former Gov. Jim Doyle on their state budget proposals. Byrnes has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Northern Iowa and a bachelor’s degree from Ripon College.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE ZOOM LINK TO ATTEND. PLEASE REGISTER BEFORE THE EVENT STARTS. ORAL AND WRITTEN QUESTIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED DURING THE EVENT.
As this event is online, you can use your computer or smartphone to listen to the conversation and then add your voice to the conversation during the "Question & Comment" time.
Questions? Contact lecture organizer, Joy Cardin at cardinjoy@gmail.com
