GRAND RAPIDS — Amid criticism of a proliferated data center rollout, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the state should welcome tech companies that can follow environmental and energy standards when building facilities in communities around Michigan.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, June 2, Whitmer said an expansion of data centers is inevitable, but Michigan has the tools to hold developers accountable.
“I think one thing’s very clear, everyone has a cell phone in our pocket,” Whitmer said. “We are all, more and more, consuming technology and data and these data centers are going to get built. So, my thought is if we can hold them to a high standard and do it in Michigan, that’s the best way to do it. Not watch them go everywhere else and do it in a really bad way.”
Data centers are buildings housing the hardware needed to power different computing functions.
In 2023, lawmakers and Whitmer approved plans to give tax breaks to data center developers to build new projects in Michigan. To qualify for the breaks, developers are required to follow rules related to protecting water supplies and paying for the power needed to run the data centers without passing the bill onto residential electric customers. Since then, more tech companies have eyed Michigan as a landing spot for data centers, demand for which has grown as the use of generative artificial intelligence has become more commonplace.
“We want these companies if they are going to build in Michigan, to live up to our Michigan standards around our climate work, around being good stewards of our water, around paying a good wage for all the people that are doing the work and to make sure that they’re adding energy to the grid ideally, if not absolutely not taking energy off (the grid) that would jeopardize consumers,” Whitmer said.
The governor’s comments come a day after she attended the groundbreaking for a $16 billion hyperscale data center campus in Saline Township. The project is backed by developers Oracle, Related Digital and OpenAI, the company that operates the globally popular ChatGPT platform. While Whitmer and developers have celebrated the project, nicknamed “The Barn,” as a job creator and a major investment in Michigan, there are concerns from environmental advocates who worry about its impact on the water supply, as well as pushback from local residents concerned with how the campus would change the community.
The governor also referenced the Michigan Public Service Commission as a platform for members of the public to provide input on data center projects. The MPSC, whose three members were appointed by Whitmer, was criticized for approving power supply contracts between DTE Energy and the developers of the Saline Township “ex parte,” meaning the contracts were approved without a contested hearing process. DTE has agreed to provide an initial 1.4 gigawatts of computing power, with potential for another three gigawatts for the facility in the future.
Aside from “The Barn,” other major tech companies are looking at Michigan as a landing spot for new data centers. Google is moving forward with plans for a 1-gigawatt data center in Van Buren Township. In west Michigan, Microsoft has purchased land in three communities with an eye toward opening data centers on the properties, as well.
Proponents of data center expansion in Michigan say the facilities will create jobs, although a University of Michigan study found data center projects often underwhelm on job projections because the facilities serve a more infrastructural purpose than a traditional job-creating business.
Whitmer spoke to media after a tour of a local business in Grand Rapids, where she signed a Pride Month proclamation.
You can reach Arpan Lobo at alobo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer addresses data centers day after Saline groundbreaking
Reporting by Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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