Anti-data center Capitol protest comes amid opposition to Lansing project

Last week, the developers of a proposed $1 billion data center in Howell Township pulled the plug on their conditional zoning request after months of community opposition.

Yesterday, Lauren Prebenda, who organized opposition to the Howell project, was one of about 200 who took to the state Capitol to protest other data center proposals statewide.

“I’m concerned about the assault on rural Michigan, on our water, our land,” she said. “I’m really concerned about massive water withdrawals and the impact it’s going to have on our Great Lakes and our aquifers.”

Data centers have proliferated in recent years as the artificial technologies they power gain prominence. But the rows of computers lining data centers generate significant heat, create noise and can use significant amounts of water, depending on the cooling method.

Michigan has generally been supportive of data center projects. In 2024, the state extended and expanded sales and use tax exceptions for certain data centers. More recently, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged swift approval of a 250-acre proposed data center in Saline Township, which would be used by tech behemoths Oracle and OpenAI.

“With these projects like these data centers,” said Donald Chippewa III, “in construction, there’s work for people present, but after that, there’s nothing.”

Chippewa III was speaking about a data center proposed by UK data center builders Deep Green that could be built in the Lansing’s stadium district.

The 24-megawatt project is a fraction of the 1,400-megawatt Saline Township project, and the Lansing version would use a closed-loop cooling system to minimize water use, along with donating excess heat to the Lansing Board of Water and Light.

But Chippewa III said he does not believe Deep Green’s claim that the project will bring up to 15 long-term technical jobs to Lansing and drive local tech innovation.

“That’s bullshit,” he said. “It’s just a spot where we have the resources they want to use. They’ve done wonders removing our manufacturing, selling off our education, selling off everything else, and they say they’re going to invest in us, but it’s not investing in us. It’s only for a quick gain.”

The Deep Green project will be a multi-tenant facility, as opposed to the Saline project, which would be used entirely for Oracle and OpenAI.

As with other data center projects around the state, the Deep Green project encountered roadblocks with swift community backlash. On Nov. 5, the Lansing Planning Commission held a public hearing on a conditional rezoning of the four parcels of land the project would utilize. About 40 people turned out to oppose the just-announced project, and the commission tabled their plans.

Planning commissioners later voted 4-3, on Dec. 2, against the conditional rezoning that would make the parcels eligible for the project, but the final decision rests with the city council.

Last week, the Ingham County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution urging transparency on all data center projects in the county.

The resolution is not binding and applies equally to all relevant local governments and utilities in the county, but was inspired by the Deep Green project.

The resolution was first introduced and passed by the Ingham County Environmental Affairs Commission, whose chair, County Commissioner Chris Trubac, told City Pulse he expected the project would be precedent-setting for future developments.

The resolution asks local governments and other relevant institutions to make detailed plans demonstrating how any data centers’ electricity demands will not interfere with electricity costs or Michigan’s clean energy goals.

The resolution was passed by the county’s Human Services Committee before being adopted by the county on Dec. 9. It passed 11-3, with Commissioner Todd Tennis abstaining because several of his clients are involved with data center construction in his day job at a consulting and lobbying firm.

Commissioner Mark Grebner, D-Lansing, said he believed the resolution took “the right tone,” which is that such projects should not be rushed through without ample time for questions.

“It is a mistake for people to process, or even allow themselves to consider that action has to be taken quickly,” he said.

Also in Ingham County, Mason residents packed City Hall Monday night to oppose Mason City Council passing an ordinance that would have created a “Technology Innovation (M-3) Zoning District” regulating data centers. The ordinance was intended to establish safeguards and ensure data centers conformed to expectations, but council members placed a 90-day moratorium on the proposed ordinance following the opposition.

Heather Shawa, BWL assistant general manager, said at the Nov. 5 meeting that Deep Green would use about as much water as a conventional restaurant.

At the protest, Lansing resident Ramona Henry said even the sustainability-focused data center was a step in the wrong direction despite its sustainability focus.

“We’re already at a loss,” she said. “We can’t even swim in the Grand River anymore.”

Henry, who is of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, said officials should be working to restore Lansing’s water, not greenlighting facilities that only minimize their water use.

“The water’s poisoned,” she said. “We’re working on getting that clean, and this is just another pushback.”

— LEO V. KAPLAN