Michigan regulators blow past DTE’s data center deadline

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The Michigan Public Service Commission declined to take up DTE Energy’s power contracts for the Oracle and Open AI data center in Saline Township Friday, despite the utility’s statement that the project could be canceled if not approved by Dec. 5.

The data center contracts will not be taken up Friday, MPSC spokesperson Matt Helms told Planet Detroit. “When cases before the Commission are ripe for a decision, cases are put on the agenda,” Helms said in a Friday email. 

The regulatory meeting is underway Friday afternoon, and this story will be updated. 

The massive, $7 billion, 1.4-gigawatt data center planned for 575 acres of farmland south of Ann Arbor is a political flashpoint. 

The MPSC has received over 5,000 online comments on the case and over 800 people attended a virtual hearing on the data center Wednesday night.

An additional virtual hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Dec. 18 on a permit application for the Saline data center’s proposed wetland, stream, and floodplain impacts, the MPSC announced Friday. Read Planet Detroit’s Guides to data centers and the MPSC.

When asked about the passing of DTE’s deadline, DTE spokesperson Jill Wilmot said the company “will continue to follow the regulatory process and wait for the MPSC’s decision on these contracts.”

Wilmot did not say whether the status of the project is affected by the missed deadline, and deferred questions on the matter to developer Related Digital and Oracle.

Planet Detroit contacted Related Digital and Oracle for comment on this story.

Nessel, lawmakers call for data center oversight

DTE Energy, which applied for ex parte approval of the data center electricity contracts without official hearings, has said a contested case is unnecessary because the project will not increase the cost of service for other customers.

Residents and some lawmakers say a contested case with Michigan regulators is needed to ensure the data center doesn’t increase utility bills, decrease energy reliability, undermine Michigan’s climate law, or leave ratepayers to pay for stranded costs if the facility uses less power than anticipated or ceases operation. 

A contested case would enable parties representing businesses, environmental interests, ratepayers, and other groups to submit testimony on the electric contracts for the Saline Township data center.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and some union representatives and lawmakers support the project, and say it will create thousands of temporary construction jobs, hundreds of permanent jobs, and bring tax dollars to local communities.

Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel faced off on opposite sides of the data center issue this week. 

DTE failed to show how it will supply power for the facility and protect residents from covering project costs, Nessel said in a Thursday statement.

“DTE continues to push for a rubber-stamp approval of a secret deal, but time and again, my office has contested their filings – and time after time, the utility has shown it is not a trustworthy partner, routinely filling cases with unjustified costs,” Nessel said, adding that a case involving hundreds of millions of dollars in energy infrastructure costs should be contested.

When asked about Nessel’s statement, DTE’s Wilmot said the company has an obligation to serve any business or residential customer. The energy contracts submitted for the data center will not increase rates for existing customers, she said. 

Whitmer released a letter in support of DTE’s data center plan just minutes before Wednesday’s hearing. The project will create jobs, she said, adding that her office reviewed the project’s environmental and ratepayer protections to ensure residents are not negatively impacted.

“Can Michigan benefit from these jobs and build data centers in a smarter way while upholding our strong environmental laws to protect our precious natural resources? We have an opportunity to do both,” Whitmer wrote.

Twenty-eight Republican and Democratic lawmakers signed a Dec. 2 letter that urges the MPSC to hold a contested case.

The lawmakers said the project could be a major economic opportunity, but that it also represents the “largest energy consumption increase in Michigan history,” and the MPSC will be unable to make an informed and fair decision on the matter without a contested proceeding.

Robust public input and feedback is needed to ensure existing customers don’t pay more for energy if “the energy usage overtaxes infrastructure, impedes Michigan’s clean energy goals, or because the companies proposing the data centers go bankrupt or otherwise do not fulfill their promises,” the letter said.

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