LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — No rate hikes, a jobs guarantee, closed-loop cooling systems, and more are terms data center developers should agree to if they want to set up shop in Michigan, U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) said on Thursday.
El-Sayed’s ‘terms of engagement’ for data centers
El-Sayed, who is in a toss-up race for the Democratic nomination to represent Michigan, said he would adopt those policies if elected.
More than a dozen new data center proposals, including one in Lansing, have been introduced to communities across the state. This includes a proposal in Saline, south of Ann Arbor, where an OpenAI 1.4-gigawatt facility is planned by Oracle and Related Digital.
El-Sayed is concerned that these projects are being greenlit without accountability.
“We’ve watched as data center projects have proliferated up and down our state, raising alarmand concern about the impacts on water resources, electric bills, and safety,” said El-Sayed in a statement. “That’s because our local utilities have bought off the politicians who are supposed to regulate them—and because there simply hasn’t been the leadership to take on powerful corporations. These terms of engagement represent the bare minimum that data center projects should be able to guarantee if they want to move into our communities.”…