Overview:
- Wixom's planning commission is drafting an ordinance to restrict data center water usage and require developers to pay for infrastructure improvements.
- The proposed rules include noise studies, residential buffers, and financial guarantees to protect residents from utility cost increases.
- Councilmember Keenan Gottschall says he wants the city to be prepared after data center proposals led to a lawsuit in Saline Township and resident backlash in Howell Township.
Work is underway on a data center ordinance in Wixom to get ahead of the issues in other communities where the facilities are proposed, city officials say.
The Wixom Planning Commission is working on a draft ordinance that places restrictions on data center water usage and establishes financial requirements for the facilities to protect residents from the costs of needed utility and infrastructure investments.
“This data center issue, at least for Michigan, is one that we aren’t necessarily prepared for in terms of zoning and planning,” Wixom City Councilmember Keenan Gottschall told Planet Detroit.
The proposed ordinance includes siting requirements to protect residential areas from noise and vibrations from data centers, among other provisions.
Gottschall, who introduced the motion calling for an ordinance at the Nov. 18 city council meeting, said he’s trying to prevent Wixom from being caught flat-footed by a data center project as occurred in Howell Township and Saline Township.
Landowners and developer Related Digital sued Saline Township over the board’s vote to deny the rezoning needed for the $7-billion Oracle and OpenAI data center, alleging the community engaged in exclusionary zoning. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement that allowed the project to move forward.
A proposed $1-billion data center development in Howell Township was paused after months of pushback from residents.
Wixom differs from many of the largely rural townships where data centers are being proposed. The city is home to several large manufacturers and has energy infrastructure in place that could potentially accommodate a data center, said Wixom Assistant City Manager Drew Benson.
Gottschall said Wixom residents have said data centers could increase utility bills, adding to other cost-of-living issues.
“Everybody’s watching their bank accounts kind of dwindle lately.”
Wixom aims to protect residents from data center noise, infrastructure costs
Michigan data center developers have touted the projects’ potential to create thousands of temporary construction jobs and bring in millions in local tax benefits.
Yet data centers face intense opposition from residents concerned that the facilities’ often massive water and energy needs could pass on costs to other ratepayers.
Data centers could trigger an “off ramp” provision in Michigan’s 2023 energy law, allowing fossil fuel generation to stay online if there’s a capacity shortage.
Wixom’s draft data center ordinance for facilities in industrial research office districts and M-1 and M-2 industrial districts would require the developments to do the following:
- Estimate average and peak electrical demands.
- Provide cooling and water use plans.
- Perform noise and vibration impacts studies before and after construction.
- Provide plans for backup power, including the number, size, and location of generators and the volume of fuel storage, containment methods, and fire suppression measures.
- Submit a decommissioning plan for shutting down the facility, removing equipment, and restoring the site for reuse.
The draft ordinance would require the electric utility provider to verify available capacity and identify any system upgrades that are needed.
The site standards include a provision barring data centers from locating adjacent to residential property or placing equipment like generators close enough to residential or residentially zoned property that noise or vibration standards cannot be met.
Data centers must use air, hybrid, or closed-loop cooling methods, and the planning commission may establish maximum daily or annual water usage if the city’s water utility is being used, the draft ordinance states. The planning commission may require data centers to use nonpotable or reclaimed water if feasible.
The proposed ordinance would allow the planning commission to require data centers needing off-site public infrastructure or utility improvements to submit a development agreement, or financial guarantees. The planning commission could also require facilities to fund infrastructure improvements proportional to their impacts.
The core of the ordinance creates a buffer between data centers and residential areas, with noise studies helping to ensure the areas aren’t impacted, Benson, the assistant city manager, told Planet Detroit.
Wixom has more infrastructure to accommodate a data center than some other communities, including an underutilized substation at a former Ford Motor Co. site, Benson said.
DTE Energy declined to comment on whether the substation has excess capacity.
At the Nov. 18 city council meeting, Benson said the largest available properties in the city range between 38 and 78 acres, far smaller than the Saline Township site, where 250 acres are under development on a larger property.
The planning commission will hold a hearing on the draft ordinance before potentially recommending it to the city council for approval, Benson said. The hearing date is to be determined, he said.
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