\n<\/p>\n
A<\/span> who\u2019s who of the nation\u2019s most powerful politicians and tech tycoons are forcing through a proposal for a massive data center in rural Michigan as locals from across the political spectrum have come out in force against it, with one calling it \u201cuniquely evil\u201d.<\/p>\n Saline Township, Michigan, residents fear the $7bn center would jack up energy bills, pollute groundwater, and destroy the area\u2019s rural character. The 1.4 gigawatt center would consume as much power as Detroit, and would help derail Michigan\u2019s nation-leading transition to renewable energy.<\/p>\n Responding to resident pressure, Saline Township\u2019s board of trustees in September voted down the plans, but the data center\u2019s powerful backers \u2013 including Donald Trump, Open AI\u2019s Sam Altman, Oracle\u2019s Larry Ellison, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, utility giant DTE Energy, and Stephen Ross, the real-estate billionaire and Trump donor who owns Related Co \u2013 fought back.<\/p>\n <\/span>A fallen sign on the curb near the site of the soon-to-be-built data center.<\/span><\/p>\n Related Digital sued, and, vastly outgunned, the township board quickly folded and reversed its decision over strong resident objections. Now the project\u2019s backers are trying to avoid minimal regulatory scrutiny on energy costs and pollution.<\/p>\n The controversy over the data center is representative of the David v Goliath fights playing out across the US, pitting working- and middle-class residents against the interests of billionaires and the political establishment.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of an experience that America and the world is having around tech billionaires who are seizing power and widening the gap between those have much too much \u2026 and the working and middle classes,\u201d said Yousef Rabhi, a former Democratic state legislative leader and clean energy advocate who opposes the plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what these data centers are symbolic of, and they\u2019re the vehicle for is the furtherance of this divide,\u201d Rabhi added.<\/p>\n <\/span>Yousef Rabhi speaks at a rally held in Saline Township in opposition to the data center.<\/span> Photograph: Courtesy of Yousef Rabhi<\/p>\n The proposal is part of the broader \u201cStargate\u201d project composed of five data centers backed by the Trump administration, which granted $500bn in federal subsidies for them. It\u2019s the largest project in Michigan history in terms of investment, and it also received subsidies on taxes that could have gone to roads and schools, among other uses, Rabhi said.<\/p>\n The plan\u2019s supporters say the center would provide essential AI infrastructure, in part for national security, and create a few hundred jobs. Huge sums of money are at stake for the tech and utility companies.<\/p>\n Ross\u2019s Related Digital is the data center\u2019s developer, while OpenAI, which produced ChatGPT, and Oracle will use the center to house its AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n In a statement, Related Digital alleged company the township\u2019s decision violated zoning laws, and the spokesperson stressed the suit was filed jointly with three Saline Township property owners who are selling their property to Related.<\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, we were able to reach a settlement agreement with the township to allow this project to move forward,\u201d the spokesperson said. They noted Related is also making about $14m in donations to local causes.<\/p>\n Saline Township is a small community of about 4,000 just outside Ann Arbor. The Stargate project is one of around a dozen data center proposals in Michigan over the last year that are strongly opposed at the local level. It\u2019s one of four proposed near Ann Arbor \u2013 last week, plans for a second a few miles away in a neighboring town surfaced.<\/p>\n Some municipalities have been successful in derailing plans, while others have lost the fight.<\/p>\n <\/span>A new data center being built along US Route 12 in Saline Township.<\/span> Photograph: Sarah Rice\/The Guardian<\/p>\n In Saline Township, former US marine Kate Haushalter and her husband are raising five children in a farmhouse next to the data center site. They bought and renovated the once-dilapidated home so they could live in a bucolic area, and Haushalter said she was not about to cede ground even though the township did.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe because I was in the Marine Corps, but I would rather stay and fight,\u201d Haushalter said. \u201cI\u2019m sure the chances are slim, but it\u2019s worth fighting for, and I don\u2019t want to teach my kids to roll over.\u201d<\/p>\n Big tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and Open AI, which often own data centers, typically have enough political support at the state and federal levels that inexperienced local leaders who are comparatively poorly resourced are left on their own to defend their town from the centers.<\/p>\n Saline Township supervisor Jim Marion conveyed that challenge when he told angry residents during a contentious November discussion that the township\u2019s \u201chands were tied\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis township doesn\u2019t have the money to fight these big companies. You got to understand that,\u201d Marion told the crowd. \u201cWe were dealt the cards we were dealt.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>A sign warns of \u2018construction ahead\u2019 on US Route 12.<\/span> Photograph: Sarah Rice\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Some municipalities have utilized zoning laws to block the centers. Beyond that, there\u2019s little local officials can do, and state and federal level regulations on the centers are virtually non-existent.<\/p>\n Still, residents are growing more organized. A first protest on 1 December drew about 200 people, who Rabhi described as \u201ctruly a cross-section of American society\u201d. The next week, 800 people participated in a state-level public input session, and organizers are pressuring state environmental regulators to hold up the project\u2019s required wetland permits.<\/p>\n Among residents leading the pushback is Josh LeBaron, whose home sits about 500 yards from the site, where crews have broken down.<\/p>\n He characterized the project as \u201cuniquely evil\u201d because of the environmental risks, and because, he and others allege, the companies and government have been secretive about their plans. In response to questions about accusations of nimby-ism leveled against local residents by the project\u2019s supporters, LeBaron said he would not be opposed to other developments.<\/p>\n <\/span>A sign protesting against the new data center in Saline Township.<\/span> Photograph: Sarah Rice\/The Guardian<\/p>\n He noted that Michigan is full of former industrial sites that would be more appropriate for the 575-acre property.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be at home reading a book if it were a subdivision,\u201d LeBaron said.<\/p>\n A Related spokesperson told the Guardian the company \u201cexplored sites across Michigan before deciding on this site, which is ideal as it\u2019s a contiguous flat area\u201d, and is set close to a major road and transmission lines.<\/p>\n Local opponents\u2019 best hope for holding up the project lies in the arcane utility regulatory process on the massive amount of power the data center would require.<\/p>\n DTE Energy claims the data center\u2019s power demands and need for expensive new infrastructure will not increase residential electricity prices.<\/p>\n But it doesn\u2019t want to show its math.<\/p>\n DTE filed a petition with the Michigan Public Services Commission (MPSC), the state agency that regulates utilities, asking the MPSC to fast-track the plan\u2019s approval. DTE\u2019s request for an \u201cex parte\u201d case requires limited scrutiny of its claim that the center won\u2019t destroy the climate laws, or increase electricity bills.<\/p>\n In response, Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel and consumer advocacy groups filed a legal petition with the MPSC, calling for a \u201ccontested case\u201d that would require much closer regulatory review of DTE\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n The MPSC is helmed by Whitmer appointees, and the governor has strongly backed the project, raising suspicions among opponents that the agency will approve the ex parte request.<\/p>\n Studies from across the country have shown data centers often increase rates, and DTE and regulators \u201ccannot claim transparency while shutting the public out of the only process that requires DTE to support its claims with actual evidence\u201d, said Bryan Smigielski, Michigan campaign organizer for the Sierra Club, which is intervening in the regulatory battle.<\/p>\n In a statement, a DTE spokesperson said: \u201cTo be clear, these data center customer contracts will NOT create a cost increase for our existing customers.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Saline Township is a small community of about 4,000 just outside Ann Arbor. <\/span> Photograph: Sarah Rice\/The Guardian<\/p>\n DTE has said the project won\u2019t derail Michigan\u2019s transition to clean energy, but state data and DTE\u2019s plans suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n Michigan, in late 2023, passed nation-leading climate laws that require utilities to transition to renewable energy by 2040. But the law included an \u201coff-ramp\u201d that allows utilities to continue running or building fossil fuel plants if renewable sources cannot handle the energy grid\u2019s load.<\/p>\n At its peak, DTE\u2019s grid already demands about 9.5 gigawatts of power, while the grid\u2019s capacity is 11gw.<\/p>\n In July, DTE told investors it is in negotiations with big tech companies to provide 7gw of power for several proposed data centers.<\/p>\n The Saline center\u2019s 1.4gw may not cause an exceedance of the 11gw threshold, especially because DTE is planning to build battery storage. But the Saline center along with any of the other proposed centers likely would trigger the off-ramp.<\/p>\n DTE appears to be planning for that likelihood: DTE Energy executives said the company would likely need to build new gas plants to accommodate the data centers\u2019 demand.<\/p>\n Haushalter\u2019s kids were born in the renovated farmhouse and are homeschooled there.<\/p>\n She and her husband try to teach the kids to respect nature. The family manages beehives, watches the geese and plant trees for wood to use in their wood-burning stove. At night, they take the kids outdoors for bonfires to look at the stars. \u201cWe\u2019re not a big screen family,\u201d Haushlater said.<\/p>\n <\/span>Kate Haushalter photographed in her family\u2019s home.<\/span> Photograph: Sarah Rice\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The noise, light and air pollution is already disrupting the life the family built over 13 years. The center, if it is fully built, would fully destroy it, Haushalter said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are really passionate about nature and teaching our kids about it and I can\u2019t believe the biggest construction project in Michigan is landing literally in my backyard, and there\u2019s no recourse for the little guy,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to crush us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A who\u2019s who of the nation\u2019s most powerful politicians and tech tycoons are forcing through a proposal for a massive data center in rural Michigan as locals from across the political spectrum have come out in force against it, with one calling it \u201cuniquely evil\u201d. Saline Township, Michigan, residents fear the $7bn center would jack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[4525,2110,1111,4162,2171,3384,13615,5104,1168,20969,3406],"class_list":{"0":"post-38186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-backed","9":"tag-center","10":"tag-data","11":"tag-evil","12":"tag-fight","13":"tag-huge","14":"tag-michigan","15":"tag-residents","16":"tag-top","17":"tag-tycoons","18":"tag-uniquely"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018We were dealt the cards we were dealt\u2019<\/h2>\n
Higher bills and the end of Michigan\u2019s climate laws<\/h2>\n
Saline Township \u2018will never be the same\u2019<\/h2>\n