SALINE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Saline Township residents packed a small boardroom Wednesday night to voice their anger over a multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence data center project that will transform their rural community.
The approximately 250-acre project by Related Digital will help power artificial intelligence for Oracle and OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT. While no decisions related to the project were on the agenda, dozens of residents used the public comment period to express their frustrations at the first meeting since the project was officially announced. However, the announcement was not the first time residents here learned of it.
Watch Brett Kast's video report below:
"We built our dream home so I could raise my five small children, and nobody is here to protect me, nobody is here to protect us," said Kathryn Haushalter, a Marine veteran whose property will border the new data center.
The fight in this small town has been ongoing for months. When Related Digital first brought the project to the township board, trustees voted against rezoning the land from agricultural to industrial use. However, after the company and landowners sued the township, officials agreed to settle the lawsuit and approve the rezoning with conditions.
“We're not for it. I hate it. I farm here. I've farmed here my whole life, so has everybody else here too. They hate it. There’s just nothing we can do, ” said Dean Marion, a Saline Township trustee.
Township attorney Fred Lucas explained the difficult position officials faced during litigation.
"I don't know of a single member up there that was in favor of, let's go get a data center — no," Lucas said. "The question was simply this: of the outcomes that could occur in a litigation, what was the best possible outcome for the township?"
“This township doesn’t have the money to fight these big companies. You got to understand that," Marion told the crowd. "We were dealt the cards we were dealt, and felt our hands were tied."
While the township secured some protections for the land and nearby wells, millions of dollars in tax revenue and school support, residents remain concerned about how the industrial development will reshape their rural landscape and impact their farmland.
"I wanted to raise them (kids) in the countryside, not an industrial zone," Haushalter said. "We love to have the windows open and go to sleep to the sound of the frogs, and now it's going to be the sound of the hum of a monstrosity of a data center."
Previous coverage: Data center divides Saline Township as DTE seeks to bypass public hearings
In a statement announcing the deal, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the Stargate Open AI facility is the largest one-time investment in Michigan history and touted the 2,500 construction jobs and 450 permanent on-site jobs the project would create.
“I’m grateful to these cutting-edge companies for betting on Michigan, building on our work to compete for and win big projects in next-generation industries from cars and clean energy to semiconductors and batteries. We will continue working together at the state level to win more projects so we can create even more good-paying, local jobs for Michiganders and grow our economy," Whitmer said in her statement. “This investment from Oracle and Related Digital sends a simple message to anyone who wants to build the future—you can build it in Michigan.”
Related coverage: Proposed AI data centers in Southeast Michigan spark debate across communities
At the meeting, many members of the public demanded to know how they could still fight the project, despite the consent agreement that settled the lawsuit.
"I don't know what we can do to go back at it. The state wants it here. The judge would've favored it because Gretchen Whitmer wants it here," said Jennifer Zink, the Saline Township treasurer.
"Our township just shrugs and says we were sued, we couldn't fight," Haushalter said. "They didn't try, they didn't try."
The next step involves DTE Energy, which has filed an ex parte request for a primary supply agreement and an energy storage agreement with the Michigan Public Services Commission. An ex parte request would skip the formal hearing process, but Attorney General Dana Nessel has intervened to demand a public hearing on the matter.
"A public hearing is the only way to ensure transparency, give customers all the facts and confirm DTE’s proposal truly protects Michiganders before any approval is granted,” Nessel said.
DTE says the data center will contribute more than $300 million to the electric system, helping finance investments to improve reliability by 30% and cut outage time in half by 2029. The utility company argues that adding large customers helps spread fixed costs more widely, driving greater affordability for all DTE customers.
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