Google Plans 1 Gigawatt Data Center in Van Buren Township, State Rep. Reggie Miller Responds With New Legislation

Google and DTE Energy have announced plans to build a 1 gigawatt data center in Van Buren Township, Wayne County, sparking a legislative response from Michigan State Rep. Reggie Miller.

The proposed facility would draw 1,000 megawatts of power and is part of a 20-year agreement between the tech giant and the Michigan utility company. The project would add 2.7 gigawatts of new clean energy resources to the state grid, according to reports from local news outlets.

State Rep. Reggie Miller, a Democrat from Van Buren Township, introduced two bills in the Michigan House aimed at addressing concerns raised by the data center boom.

One bill would close loopholes that allow colleges and universities to build or partner on data centers while accessing local property tax abatements meant for education facilities. Miller's Chief of Staff, Jackson Pahle, says the legislation will help keep data centers on the tax rolls if that becomes their primary function.

Colleges are still able to build them. This is not a moratorium or a ban or anything, but its just so that colleges and these data centers are not double dipping on tax incentives, Pahle told WEMU.

The second bill would require data centers to register with the state and disclose operational impacts, including energy and water use. The legislation would mandate financial safeguards for possible environmental risks or decommissioning costs.

The Van Buren Township project is not the only data center driving local concern. In Dowagiac, southwest Michigan, Hyperscale Data announced plans to expand its data center from 30 to 340 megawatts. The company operates in an existing industrial building and has not yet submitted formal development plans to city officials.

Dowagiac City Manager Kevin Anderson said the city has brought in outside experts to help plan for and regulate data centers locally. We want to make sure the right thing is done for the neighborhoods and for businesses in this community, Anderson said.

Across Michigan, at least 19 communities have passed or proposed moratoriums on data center development. State legislators are considering bills that would pause new projects until 2027, but political candidates are campaigning against them.

The Michigan Public Service Commission last year approved the first large data center of 1.4 gigawatts, which is being built in Saline Township by Oracle and OpenAI. Nessel said to put that in perspective, 1.4 gigawatts is the equivalent of adding one million homes to our electrical grid overnight.

Google and DTE Energy have committed to a contested case hearing for the Van Buren Township project. The company plans to build on farmland in the township, which has been part of ongoing debates about agricultural land use and data center development in Michigan.

The Michigan Legislature is set to consider additional data center legislation when it returns in the coming weeks. The debate continues over whether state policy should encourage or restrict the rapid expansion of computing facilities that demand unprecedented amounts of electricity and water.