Microsoft has been identified as the entity behind a planned data center project in Caledonia, Wisconsin, outside Milwaukee.

Local press, including TMJ4, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and BizJournal, reports that Village of Caledonia officials and Microsoft have confirmed the cloud giant is behind the proposed Project Nova campus.

The campus could total 244 acres west of WE Energies’ Oak Creek coal power plant, along Douglas Avenue and Botting Road, some 17 miles (27.3 miles) south of downtown Milwaukee in Racine County.

News of the project surfaced last month. Site concepts show that three data center buildings and a 15-acre electrical substation could be developed. Further specifications or project timelines weren’t shared.

We Energies owns the land, and engineering firm Dewberry Engineers has been the company filing for the rezoning on behalf of Microsoft up to this point. Microsoft has yet to acquire the property and is awaiting a rezoning approval from the village.

An opposition group – Stop Project Nova – has been set up to organize local residents unhappy with the proposals. Around 30 people spoke against the project at a recent meeting.

The 1,000-acre Oak Creek generating site is composed of two power plants: Oak Creek Power Plant (OCPP) and Elm Road Generating Station (ERGS). The coal-powered Oak Creek plant totals 610MW across two steam turbines, while the Elm Road site totals 1.2GW of capacity across two turbines.

Built in the 1960s, the Oak Creek turbines were due for retirement this year, but We Energies recently announced they would be used through until the end of 2026. The Elm Road Generating Station, which came online in the early 2010s, is set to be converted from a coal plant to a natural gas plant.

Microsoft is already present in Racine County. The likes of Meta, QTS, Vantage, Ark, Involta, and others are present or developing facilities across Wisconsin.

The hyperscaler recently said it was investing an additional $4 billion into more data centers in Wisconsin, doubling its footprint in Mount Pleasant. The company is close to launching its Mount Pleasant campus in Racine County, which is set to span three buildings over some 315 acres and 1.2 million sq ft (111,483 sqm). The second phase of development is set to be completed around 2028.