Eric Adams booed pitching Wisconsin data center

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams traveled to Wisconsin Rapids over the weekend to promote a 150-megawatt data center planned for a former paper mill. Residents responded with boos, heckling and accusations that the project would take their water.

The appearance, reported by Gizmodo and Hellgate, was organized by PNK Group, the developer behind the proposal. It was not a town hall or public hearing. PNK arranged the meeting independently and brought in Adams, who now reportedly works as a consultant for real estate developers, to make the project more appealing to the community.

That strategy failed almost immediately. As Adams introduced himself, attendees shouted:

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“You belong in prison!” “You’re here to steal our water!”

Adams then tried to discuss artificial intelligence, offering a story about a friend who used AI to help identify her breast cancer diagnosis. An audience member questioned whether the story was true.

Why Wisconsin residents are resisting data centers

Wisconsin Rapids has a population of 18,654, but the opposition reflects a broader statewide backlash against large data center developments. Reporter Jasmine Sun, whom the article cited, found residents distrustful of corporate promises after projects in Wisconsin repeatedly overpromised and underdelivered.

The collapse of the multibillion-dollar Foxconn factory remains a particularly visible example. Wisconsin also has a strong conservation and environmentalist tradition, making residents wary when outside companies seek local land and water for industrial projects.

A recent poll found that 76% of registered Wisconsin voters believe data centers' costs outweigh their benefits. That represents an approximately 20-point shift against the projects compared with less than a year earlier.

The concern is not limited to public opinion. A Wisconsin Watch report cited by Gizmodo said a proposed $10 billion data center project was abandoned after developers learned they would have to participate in public hearings.

The resistance arrives as AI infrastructure projects demand far more electricity, water and specialized facilities, a trend also reflected in the growing pressure on AI data center power and cooling infrastructure. In Wisconsin, residents are making clear that those costs cannot simply be presented as a finished deal.

For PNK Group, the Wisconsin Rapids proposal now faces a credibility problem before the formal public process has even begun. Hiring a controversial former big-city mayor for a developer-run sales pitch did not soften opposition; it gave residents another reason to reject the project’s message.