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Massive data center approved in Van Buren Township
A 5-2 council vote is bringing what would be the largest data center in Michigan to Van Buren Township, despite pushback from the community.
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - Plans for a massive data center spanning 230 acres were approved with a 5-2 vote by the Van Buren Township board.
The data center will operate on one gigawatt of electricity - enough to power 800,000 homes and use between two and three million gallons of water a day.
Big picture view:
"Project Cannoli" will be build on the property north of I-94 between Haggerty Road and I-275 and it is one step closer after that meeting on Wednesday night.
The township supervisor talked about how this place has been zoned for a data center in the past back before these hyper data centers began. Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara says the research has been done, and there is the needed infrastructure for the project.
"This will actually drive the price of water down in Van Buren," he said. "Because we’ve got a big user now that has very little infrastructure 20 feet off the line. They have to pay the municipal rate and when they pay the municipal rate, it’s going to actually drive down the cost of water for our customers in Van Buren Township.
"We have the lowest water rates probably in southeast Michigan, we will have the lowest rates for 10 years because of this project."
And of course, some residents are concerned about this, particularly with how much water is going to be used electricity will be used and how it will affect the property values.
"The community already carries the weight of waste sites and nuclear waste," said one man at last night's meeting. "I am not sure we can take on more."
"I want this commission to ensure that housing values aren’t going to be lost because of this," said another man. "My parents have been in that house for 30 years and worked hard on it."
"As a township we are being strong-armed and bullied although yes the presentation was quite nice," said a female resident.
What’s next for this potential data center? It’s got to be approved by the Public Service Commission and that’s going to be in partnership with DTE trying to figure out how they’re going to use all this electricity and the plan for that.
GLWA is also going to have to approve the water usage as well. The project will take about two years to be built.
The next Michigan Public Service Commission meeting is scheduled for Feb, 19
To learn who is on the Michigan Public Service Commission, which is appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, click here.
The Source: Information for this report is from Wednesday night's public meeting in Van Buren Township, previous reporting and an interview with Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara.