Overview:

- The University of Michigan's application for a $100 million state grant said its data center project would be located on 20 acres in Ypsilanti Township.
- The college later acquired 124.68 acres on Textile Road.
- Legislation introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives Thursday and a resolution passed earlier this month in Ypsilanti Township aim to revoke the taxpayer dollars committed to the data center.

Michigan State Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr. (D-Ypsilanti) introduced legislation Thursday to rescind a $100 million state grant for the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s data center project in Ypsilanti Township.

The university has been unwilling to offer community benefits or consider another site for the data centers, Wilson said. 

“The University of Michigan has not been fully transparent with this project and has refused to collaborate with the Ypsilanti Township officials throughout this planning process,” Wilson said in a statement to Planet Detroit.

Ypsilanti Township officials say the university misled state officials about the size of the project when applying for the $100 million grant, and passed a resolution earlier this month seeking to unwind the funding.

Officials are looking to move the facility from a site on the south bank of the Huron River to a location at the American Center for Mobility, just east of Ypsilanti Township’s West Willow neighborhood.

U of M spokesperson Kay Jarvis told Planet Detroit in a statement that “U-M has been undertaking, in good faith, a second thorough review of the ACM location,” and looking at other possible sites in southeast Michigan.

Local officials have been left out of these discussions because the township is not a party to a potential real estate transaction, she said.

Wilson’s legislation comes as many Michigan residents and lawmakers push back on data center projects in their communities. Data centers’ often massive water and energy demands have prompted concerns the facilities could harm water resources, pass on costs to other electric ratepayers, and imperil state climate goals.

These energy demands risk triggering an “off ramp” provision in the state’s climate law, allowing fossil fuel generation to stay online if there’s a capacity shortage.

U of M says research at what it refers to as a “high-performance computing facility” will support projects that benefit the public in the fields of medicine, climate science, energy, and national security. The college has come under criticism for partnering with Los Alamos, which primarily works on nuclear weapons technology.

As a public university, U of M is not subject to the same local zoning approval process as other data center developers.

Petition highlights Los Alamos’ nuclear weapons work

A petition signed by over 700 University of Michigan employees, faculty, and students urges the school to cancel the $1.2 billion project and halt its partnership with Los Alamos, arguing the project will harm the environment, negatively impact low-income communities, and help advance harmful nuclear weapon and artificial intelligence technologies.

Aaron Stark, a University of Michigan employee who helped draft the petition, told Planet Detroit the university is foisting the project on its poorer neighbor, saying it could create environmental harm at either the Huron River site or the location near the West Willow neighborhood.

According to MiEJScreen, Michigan’s environmental justice screening tool, the West Willow neighborhood is in the 85th percentile, while areas to its north are in the 88th percentile. These scores indicate well above average pollution exposure and sensitive populations.

“I see this data center as another example of U of M throwing its muscle around to the detriment of local other communities and also another example of U of M’s long, sordid ties to military research,” Stark said.

The petition calls attention to Los Alamos’ focus on nuclear weapons work. The lab’s director Thom Mason previously said in 2019 that, “Los Alamos is clearly, front and center, a national security lab.” 

Eighty-four percent of the lab’s 2026 budget request is for nuclear weapons work, according to the nonprofit Nuclear Watch New Mexico.

Los Alamos did not respond to a request for comment.

Stark said he does not  want to see the value he and other workers create for the university deployed for the data center project.

U of M is financing $850 million of the $1.2 billion project, according to a December 2024 announcement from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The project would create 200 jobs and two computing centers: one for federal research, and a smaller one for university research, the press release said.

Data center issue ‘cuts across party lines’: Ypsilanti Township attorney

The Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees passed a resolution Dec. 2 calling for the cancellation of the $100 million grant awarded by the Michigan Strategic Fund and Michigan Economic Development Corp., a taxpayer-funded agency providing business incentives.

The resolution calls the University of Michigan’s grant application a “bait and switch,” stating the university misrepresented key project details and never received the township board’s support. The university is declining to include the board in siting discussions or hold a town hall in the community, the resolution said.

U of M’s Jarvis said that following standard business practice, only the parties involved in potential real estate transactions are included, but said university representatives have been responsive to Ypsilanti Township officials and kept them apprised of project details.

“We would oppose any effort to rescind funds that are advancing one of the State of Michigan’s highest research priorities,” Jarvis said of efforts to cancel the grant.

Michigan Economic Development Corp. spokesperson Danielle Emerson said the agency “continues to have conversations with various entities involved in this potential project, and we look forward to an amenable outcome that serves the best interest for all Michiganders.”

Township Attorney Doug Winters told Planet Detroit that U of M misled state officials in its grant application.

The university’s December 2024 grant application said the project would be located on a “20-acre property in Ypsilanti Township.” On June 12 of this year, the U of M Board of Regents approved the acquisition of another 124.68 acres on Textile Road.

“They’ve dealt from the bottom of the deck,” Winters said, adding that U of M isn’t serious about relocating the data centers to the ACM site, he said, citing its refusal to involve the township in these discussions or hold a town hall in the area.

The township board passed a resolution calling on U of M to move the data centers in August, with an accompanying memorandum that states the Huron River site raised “environmental concerns, health concerns, safety concerns and noise concerns.”

Winters said there’s no reason for Michigan taxpayers to help one of the wealthiest universities in the nation with a grant when, as a tax-exempt entity, it won’t be supporting the township.

“Why should taxpayers subsidize this … at a time when there’s hundreds of thousands of people in this state losing Medicaid benefits, losing SNAP benefits, and they’re not being honest, and forthright,” he said.

Lawmakers need to be aware that how they respond to the data center issue could significantly impact their performance in future elections, Winters said. 

“I don’t know what it’s going to take for people in Lansing to wake up and see that this is one issue that cuts across party lines,” he said. “It really is a singular issue.”

🗳️ What’s next? Tips for civic action

Why it matters
⚡ Data centers have large energy and water demands that environmental advocates argue could jeopardize Michigan water resources and state climate goals.
The University of Michigan, which calls the Ypsilanti Township project a “high-performance computing facility,” said it will support projects that benefit the public in the fields of medicine, climate science, energy, and national security.

Who’s making civic decisions
🏛️ Michigan legislators are weighing a bill that would rescind a $100 million state grant for the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Lab’s data center project.

How to take civic action now

  • 📩 Contact your state legislator, state senator, or members of U of M’s Board of Regents.
  • 📣 Ask your lawmakers if they support legislation to rescind U of M’s data center grant. Ask U of M regents how the university will address Ypsilanti Township officials’ concerns or if it will hold a town hall in the community.

What to watch for next
🗓️ A vote on the legislation introduced Thursday to claw back $100 million in state funding for the Ypsilanti Township data center.
U of M says construction on the project will start in 2028 and be completed by 2031.

Civic impact
🌍 Following and weighing in on data center projects in your community can help shape the water and energy impacts these facilities have in the state. 

⭐Please let us know what action you took or if you have any additional questions. Please send a quick email to connect@planetdetroit.org.

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Brian Allnutt is a senior reporter and contributing editor at Planet Detroit. He covers the climate crisis, environmental justice, politics and open space.