Data Center

Russ McNamara delivers a round up of the day at the 2026 Mackinaw Policy Conference, where he interviewed Sen. Gary Peters, state Rep. Ranjeev Puri and attended a DTE press conference.

Meridian Township, east of Lansing, adopted a data center moratorium. Just a day earlier, Lowell Township, outside Grand Rapids, rejected one.

While communities across Michigan are banding together to try and halt data center development, one group says they want to bring them to the state in a sustainable way.

Some details about the data center proposed in Van Buren Township have been floating around for weeks. But the company pushing for it remained a mystery until Google put speculation to rest this week.

The front-runner for the democratic gubernatorial nomination says data centers should work with communities, and not "use our water or drive-up energy costs."

While Bay City hasn't had any proposals for data centers yet, the city commission wants to make sure they're prepared in the event a company send them a proposal.

If built, the center would only be about 20 miles from another proposed Microsoft data-processing facility. The company bought more than 200 acres of land near Dorr Township last year.

Michigan energy regulators conditionally approved a request Thursday to fast-track approval of contracts to power a planned data center near Ann Arbor.

Attorney General Dana Nessel said during a rally that data centers proposed throughout Michigan could lead to a recession due to increased utility rates.

Attorney General Dana Nessel is asking the Michigan Public Service Commission to reconsider a set of rules for large-scale Consumers Energy electricity customers, including data centers.