Project Cannoli up for a vote: Van Buren Township planners consider 1 GW data center

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The Van Buren Township Planning Commission could approve a preliminary site plan Wednesday for a 1-gigawatt data center planned for an area north of I-94, between Haggerty Road and I-275.

The data center, dubbed “Project Cannoli,” has received significant pushback, with 1,400 people signing a petition that says the project could impact the power grid, water resources, and utility bills.

The data center will use roughly 1 GW of electricity and around 2 million to 3.6 million gallons of water a day, according to the township’s frequently asked questions document. One GW is roughly equivalent to the energy required to power around 800,000 homes.

The project would occupy 282 acres of property and fill in 10 acres of wetlands, with 130 acres remaining undeveloped, the document states.

Project Cannoli plans call for diesel backup generators

The proposed data center site is owned by Triple Creek Associates LLC, according to township documents.

The development includes three data center buildings, two with air cooling and one with water cooling, Adam Kramer, head of North American data centers for project developer Panattoni Development Co., told Planet Detroit.

He confirmed the project will use diesel generators for backup power, which the project FAQ said will employ “high-performance exhaust scrubbers that remove 90%+ of particulates.”  

The proposed data center is projected to be the largest taxpayer in Van Buren Township and one of the top five taxpayers in Wayne County, Kramer said. Specific numbers on tax benefits are still being finalized, he said. 

Kramer did not identify the data center client, which he’s previously said is a Fortune 50 company.

‘We have a right to know where money is coming from’

A number of Michigan data center projects have encountered significant opposition on account of the facilities’ often massive water and energy use and potential to undermine state climate goals.

Michigan’s climate law contains an “off ramp” provision that allows utilities to keep fossil fuel generation online if there’s not enough capacity to meet demand.

Van Buren Township residents told Planet Detroit they’re concerned about the project’s environmental impacts, as well as what they called secretive dealmaking by township officials.

Developers and local officials signed nondisclosure agreements for the project, and its customer has not been revealed. Ron Akers, the township’s director of municipal services, previously told Planet Detroit that NDAs were signed by “pretty much all of the township officials.”

Ashley Shukait, a public health worker living in the Haggerty subdivision, across the road from the data center site, told Planet Detroit her biggest concern is environmental impacts, like air pollution from diesel generators.

Many children in the area already deal with asthma, she said.

According to MiEJScreen, Michigan’s environmental justice screening tool, areas to the east and northeast of the proposed data center are in the 84th and 82nd percentile. These scores indicate well above average pollution exposure and sensitive populations.

Shukait said she’s concerned about a lack of transparency around the project, including for whom it is being built.

“With everything going on in the world, I think we have a right to know where money is coming from and where we’re getting money from,” she said, expressing concern that the facility could be used for surveillance technologies.

State Rep. Reggie Miller (D-Van Buren Township) introduced a bill in December to bar public officials from signing nondisclosure agreements when discussing data centers. On Feb. 4, Miller introduced a resolution to pause data center developments and request a review of fiscal, utility, environmental, and local government impacts from data centers.

Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) introduced legislation in December to repeal Michigan’s tax breaks for large data centers.

Van Buren Township resident Monique Kurkowski said she doubts DTE Energy can meet the power demand for this data center and others in the utility’s pipeline. 

Kurkowski is concerned a power shortfall could lead to the construction of a small nuclear reactor on the site, she said.
        
Meta is partnering with the companies Vistra and Oklo to build 4 GW of nuclear power in Ohio to help power its Prometheus AI data centers in New Albany, Ohio and beyond, according to a Fortune report.

DTE spokesperson Ryan Lowry directed Planet Detroit to an online FAQ where the utility says it will address meeting long-term generation needs from nuclear and any other generation sources in its Integrated Resource Plan, which the utility is required to file with regulators by the end of 2026.

Large customers like data centers will be directly connected to the interstate transmission system and won’t impact residential reliability, Lowry said. 

Data center moratorium on horizon: Township official

Akers, the township’s municipal services director, told Planet Detroit the township board will consider a moratorium on large data centers at an upcoming meeting.

The moratorium would apply to projects in zoning districts with high electrical demands, significant water consumption, large amounts of trucking, and large buildings, he said.

Such a moratorium would not apply to Project Cannoli or other projects submitted before a potential moratorium date, he said. 

The township plans to look at the approval process for large, industrial projects and make code modifications to ensure they are meeting best practices for those uses, Akers said.  

Data center developer stresses environmental, ratepayer protection

Michigan’s data center tax break legislation prevents projects receiving incentives from passing costs on to other customers, Panattoni’s Kramer said.

“There is no impact allowed on residential rates as a result of new data center projects,” he said. Data centers could create a net benefit for other customers by spreading system costs out over more customers, he added.

Douglas Jester, a consultant with 5 Lakes Energy, told Planet Detroit in October the tax break legislation provided few specifics, and said the existing cost allocation framework could leave residential ratepayers and other customers paying for a portion of the electric generation needed solely to power large data centers. 

Kramer said the data center’s client has “strong environmental commitments,” and one reason Michigan was chosen for the project is because of the state’s abundance of carbon-free energy sources.

When asked whether Panattoni could pursue litigation if the Van Buren Township Planning Commission votes the project down, Kramer said the company doesn’t discuss legal strategy.

Van Buren Township resident Shukait told Planet Detroit that she hopes the planning commission puts the project on hold and establishes environmental guidelines and a community benefits agreement, if only for future projects.

The Van Buren Township Planning Commission meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11 at Van Buren Township Hall.

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