Big tech companies have a sudden interest in Michigan farmland.
It may sound like a good business opportunity for the state, with all of these data centers, but communities that live near these projects have doubts. Democratic state Senator Jeff Irwin argues there has not been enough time for the public to comment on these massive projects or even get answers to their concerns.
“We need to make sure that these data centers operate in a way that doesn’t raise rates,” Irwin said. “We need to make sure that these data centers operate in a way that protects our pure Michigan and our water here in the Great Lakes State. And the way that we do that, the way that we make sure that the laws follow, the way that we make sure that rate payers are protected is by going through this process at the Michigan Public Service Commission.”
DTE says customers will not subsidize data center rates and recently passed legislation would be a safeguard for rate increases in the future.
The Michigan Public Service Commission has declined comment.
