Michigan’s data center boom has hit a roadblock, running into a basic reality: Even in a state eager to attract artificial intelligence and tech investment, communities still have to decide who will supply the water, who will provide the power, and who will absorb the costs.
In some places, those questions are contentious.
What’s happening?
A surge of proposals has put Michigan squarely in the middle of the data center buildout, according to The Conversation. More than 30 projects have been pitched in the state over the past two years, during a period when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has openly courted technology investment.
But local resistance is reportedly rising alongside that expansion…