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.

“When cases before the Commission are ripe for a decision, cases are put on the agenda,” MPSC spokesperson Matt Helms said in a Friday email. 

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.

The utility’s contracts with the data center customer allow it to terminate the agreement within 30 days if the deal is not approved by Dec. 5, or if the customer does not agree to extend this date to Dec. 19, according to a DTE regulatory filing. The MPSC’s next regular meeting is Dec. 18.

Related Digital and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

Data centers are statewide issue that demands oversight, residents tell regulators

During the public comment portion of the MPSC’s Friday meeting, around 20 Michiganders spoke against the data center or in support of a contested case.

Ayat Al-Tamimi, a public health researcher and member of the grassroots group Michiganders Against Data Centers, held up a copy of the heavily redacted contracts DTE submitted to the MPSC as evidence of what she said is DTE’s failure to be a good partner to the people of Michigan.

“They’re able to circumvent clean energy commitments, if their power demand exceeds their ability to meet their clean energy commitments,” Al-Tamimi said, referring to an off ramp provision in Michigan’s 2023 clean energy law that allows fossil fuels to stay online if there is insufficient capacity to meet demand. 

Saline Township resident Tim Bruneau said he has difficulties with outages and long restoration times and is concerned the data center could increase electric costs, referencing a September Bloomberg report that showed dramatic increases in ratepayers bills. The story said data centers increased electricity costs by as much as 267% over five years in some areas.

“The people of Michigan deserve a say in what happens to our power grid, to our land, and to our water,” said Christian Alvarado, a Plymouth resident and organizer with the nonprofit Detroit Action. The data center has the potential to impact ratepayers statewide, and the project “must be carefully and transparently vetted,” he said.

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.

Among the deficiencies Nessel said she found in DTE’s request for approval of the contracts are “unjustified redactions and rushed deadlines.”

“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.

During Friday’s meeting, Augusta Township resident Wendy Albers said residents of Michigan townships are often left in the dark while data center deals are negotiated, with developers pushing a rushed timeline for approval once the proposals are made public.

“Please end the secrecy and protect the people of Michigan,” Albers told the commission in her request for a contested case.

“This is your chance to provide some equality between big tech, government, and the people.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional details.

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