If you haven’t heard about this in your community yet, you will soon. Big tech corporations are working to build massive data centers across Michigan. These data centers are deemed necessary because of the recent explosion in AI technology and cryptocurrency, requiring far more computing power than is currently available. The downsides however, are the extreme energy and water usage, impacts to local communities, and the fact that historically the jobs and investment promised by data center projects never seem to fully materialize.
At Clean Water Action, we are tracking several large data center projects being proposed across the state. We are very concerned about their water and energy usage as well as other local impacts, but we are most concerned about the fact that the tech industry is trying to jam approvals for data centers through local and state governments with almost no chance for public scrutiny and input. The public has a right to be informed and to provide input into whether we want these massive data centers in our communities and how community needs will be met through the process.
December 3rd and 5th are two critical opportunities for public engagement. The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) is considering rubber-stamping approval for a giant 1.4 gigawatt data center in Saline Township. The township zoning commission already denied zoning for this data center, and were immediately sued and bullied by big tech into reversing their decision. If MPSC accepts DTE’s ex-parte motion for approval, this process will move forward with no actual public input, risking our water, and likely leading to even more hikes in residential utility rates while enabling DTE to build more gas plants and increase its already record-breaking profits while we the ratepayers are left holding the bag.
MPSC has set up a virtual public comment hearing on Wednesday, December 3rd from 6:30-8:30 PM. There is also an in-person (and virtual) MPSC hearing with public comment opportunities in Lansing on Friday, December 5th at 1 PM. Sign up here to join us at one or both of these events! If you aren't able to make it, you can submit a public comment here. The way MPSC handles this massive Saline Twp. data center proposal will likely be a precedent for how they handle the wave of similar proposals that are building across the state.
Finally: the data centers being proposed for Michigan are a direct result of utility lobbying influencing the passage of data center tax breaks in 2024. Help us get a ban on conflict-of-interest political spending by regulated utilities and large corporate contractors on the ballot in 2026: sign up as a volunteer with the Michiganders For Money Out Of Politics ballot initiative campaign.
