LANSING, Mich. (WOWO) — Data center development is raising questions across Michigan about electricity demand, water use and environmental protections, as experts and advocacy groups offer competing perspectives on how the facilities could affect communities.
Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research hosted a discussion Tuesday focused on data centers and what organizers described as common misconceptions about their impact, including concerns about the state’s electrical grid.
Dr. Erik Nordman, director of the Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University, said improvements to the reliability of the state’s electricity system could benefit consumers broadly.
“If the electricity system is more reliable, we’re all going to benefit from that,” Nordman said.
Water consumption has become another major point of concern as more data centers are proposed.
Jean Hardy, associate director of Michigan State University’s Quello Center, said many developers are aware of public concerns over water and are taking steps to reduce consumption.
“Most data centers that are being built today are trying to conserve water because they see the controversies happening around water and they want to be responsible developers,” Hardy said.
Hardy also cautioned that water-saving approaches are not universal among data center projects.
She pointed to a proposed Google data center in Van Buren Township, saying the facility is expected to use what she believes could be more than two million gallons of water per day.
Meanwhile, environmental organizations held a separate conference at the Michigan Capitol, where they called for greater transparency and a larger role for communities in decisions involving data center development and incentives.
Marta Johnson, a legislative and political organizer with the Sierra Club Michigan, said environmental advocates are concerned about the rapid pace of developments involving artificial intelligence and the infrastructure needed to support it.
Johnson also questioned the transparency surrounding tax incentives offered to data center projects.
Environmental groups including the Sierra Club Michigan and Clean Water Action said they believe stronger regulations are needed to address potential impacts on water resources and communities.
Amanda Robert, network director for the Michigan Climate Action Network, said residents in the group’s network have been raising concerns about data centers for roughly a year and a half.
“Because we listen to the communities that are a part of our network,” Robert said. “We’ve been hearing from them for a year and a half now. They’re just really concerned; they’re overwhelmed with misinformation. They don’t know what information to trust.”
Nichole Keway Biber, a water justice manager with Clean Water Action, said developers that already follow strong environmental practices should not object to having those standards written into law.
“If responsible data center owners exist, they shouldn’t be worried about real strong protections that are codified into law, enforceable, hold people accountable,” Biber said.
The discussions highlight several issues Michigan communities are weighing as data center proposals move forward, including the amount of electricity facilities require, how they obtain and use water, the environmental safeguards that apply to them and the transparency surrounding public incentives.
Experts and environmental advocates agree that data center development can have significant infrastructure implications, but they differ over the scale of those impacts and the regulatory approach needed to address them.
As Michigan considers additional data center projects, questions about water consumption, electricity reliability, environmental protections and public oversight are expected to remain part of the discussion.
