(WXYZ) — The Michigan Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing to get feedback from residents about the proposed data center in Saline Township.
Related Digital wants to build a 1.4 gigawatt, $ 7.4 billion data center for Oracle and OpenAI on 250 acres of farmland.
The proposed facility, and others like it, have become hot topics, with worries about noise, environmental impact, and rising energy bills, while also generating enthusiasm over job creation and the ability to win big projects in 'next generation industries.'
Watch Ryan's report in the video player below
Earlier this week, community members made their voices heard in downtown Saline. And today, there are plans for another rally and march outside of DTE's headquarters.
After some calculations, I found that 1.4 gigawatts is actually 1.4 billion watts of electricity. That's how much power is required for this data center. That's a massive amount of energy, and Saline Township residents — along with the Attorney General — say they have a problem with that.
“This is akin to overnight standing up a city of over a million people and having to generate enough power for that city," said Dana Nessel.
Nessel voiced concerns recently regarding DTE's involvement in the proposed Saline Township Data Center Project. DTE contracted with Related to power the 250-acre, $7 billion, 1.4 gigawatt data center for Oracle and OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT.
There's already an agreement to build the facility, but DTE still needs approval from MPSC. Nessel says she believes there is a lack of transparency during this process.
“It looks largely to be, you know, a process where they’re just gonna rubber-stamp this instead of asking all of the important questions," Nessel said.
Protesters filled the Saline Township streets earlier this week, trying to exercise what little voice they say they have against the tech giants. One of the most important questions on their minds: will there be rate hikes?
“The sheer amount of power they need, we do not have the generation capacity, we don't believe DTE," said protest organizer Josh Lebaron. "They will raise rates, they do it all the time.”
However, DTE says this will not happen. They released the statement below:
“To be clear, these data center customer contracts will NOT create a cost increase for our existing customers. In its filing, DTE is asking for the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve additional terms of service that create safeguards to protect our existing customers.”
But while many see the drawbacks, others like Brian Connolly, an Assistant Professor of Business Law with the University of Michigan, say this could be a big boost.
"The construction of a billion-dollar data center is going to have a significant impact on the local property tax base, and that goes to help everything from public schools to parks and road maintenance, things like that," Connolly said.
The MPSC will hold a two-hour virtual hearing with DTE tonight at 6:30 p.m. There is a planned rally and protest happening here outside of DTE headquarters; that starts at 3 p.m.
Watch our previous data center coverage
