4 power-hungry AI data centers spark citizen concerns in Southeast Michigan

At least four massive AI data centers are being proposed across Southeast Michigan, sparking heated community debates about their environmental and economic impacts. The surge comes as Michigan lawmakers recently extended tax breaks for data center projects, positioning the state to capitalize on the AI boom while raising concerns about water usage, energy consumption, and transparency in rural communities.

What you should know: These hyperscale data centers require enormous amounts of power and water to operate AI systems and keep them cool.

• A single AI server can consume more than 10 kilowatts of power, with specialized chips drawing up to 1,200 watts each—”almost like a fridge that we have in our houses,” according to University of Michigan Associate Professor Mosharaf Chowdhury.
• Cooling systems alone account for 25-33% of a data center’s total energy consumption.
• These facilities can use between one and five million gallons of water per day, according to Helena Volzer, senior source water policy manager with Alliance for the Great Lakes.

The big picture: Rural Michigan communities are being targeted for their proximity to utility infrastructure and available land, but residents are demanding more transparency about environmental impacts.

• Augusta Township trustees unanimously approved rezoning 800 acres for a data center by Thor Equities, a New York-based real estate investment firm, despite the planning commission voting against it.
• Residents gathered enough signatures to force a 2026 referendum on the rezoning decision.
• Leslie Simpson, whose Willis home would sit between two proposed data centers, says developers are “seeing rural communities, rural land that’s close to important utility infrastructure and that has made it a prime site for them to target.”

Why this matters: Michigan’s 2024 House Bill 4906, signed into law in January, extends tax breaks for data centers for decades and adds new incentives for projects on brownfield sites and former power plants.

• Augusta Township trustee Michael Green sees potential benefits: “With bridges we have that are going bad, and culverts, and other things, like I said, we’re not a rich township, will help out immensely around here.”
• However, 97% of data centers connect to municipal water supplies without water use reporting requirements, making it impossible to track actual consumption once facilities are operational.

Key concerns: Transparency and planning issues are at the center of community opposition.

• Non-disclosure agreements are common practice in the industry, “obscuring that water and energy use when it’s a public resource,” Volzer explained.
• Simpson, a general contractor, emphasizes the need for better planning: “I feel like there hasn’t been enough planning and communication.”

What they’re saying: Community members want comprehensive impact assessments before approving projects.

• “I really want to understand the impacts that it’s going to have on the environment, and on utility cost, and infrastructure and air quality,” Simpson said.
• Volzer advocates for proactive state action: “It really does require the states to act now and to act proactively and preemptively before it’s too late.”
• Green, after visiting an Ohio data center cluster, said his noise concerns were eased but acknowledges other worries about “electric going out, diesel power contamination in the air.”