I wrote a couple months ago that data centers were going to be front and center in the news in Michigan in 2026. The speed, though, at which they’ve become front-page stories has surprised a lot of people, myself included.
Reporter Rachel Greco and her colleagues in other Michigan and Midwest states began work more than two months ago on a pair of stories looking at the impact of data centers in Midwest states and in Michigan, and those published last week. I hope you consider giving them a read.
The stories explain in detail an issue that is going to dominate discussions in many communities across Michigan, including rural areas near mid-size cities like Lansing that have plenty of land, a prerequisite for many of these facilities designed to power artificial intelligence and our increasingly reliance on data and computers…