A week after The Sun Times News launched Washtenaw Data Center Watch with a look at ballots, bills and local control, this week’s developments shift toward public meetings, written answers and upcoming decisions.
In Washtenaw County, the watch list includes current or potential data center sites in Saline Township, Ypsilanti Township and Augusta Township. Pittsfield Township also remains on the list as officials work on rules before any formal application arrives.
Saline Township Vote Set for July 14
Saline Township is expected to return July 14 to Oracle America Cloud Services LLC’s request for a 12-year industrial facilities exemption certificate, commonly called an IFEC.
The board delayed the vote July 8 after public comment and discussion over whether trustees had enough time to review the application.
An IFEC can reduce certain property taxes on new industrial facilities for a set period of time. Key issues include the estimated value of the tax break, what revenue local governments and schools could forgo, what public benefits are guaranteed and what happens if the project changes hands or does not deliver the promised investment.
The vote also comes after months of political fallout in the township, including former Supervisor Jim Marion’s resignation, Tom Hammond’s appointment to that role and recall efforts tied to township leadership and the data center debate.
Ypsilanti Township Has Two Dates to Watch
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell asked the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory to answer questions by Friday, July 10, about the proposed computational data center in Ypsilanti Township.
Her June 24 letter asked for information on energy demand, water use, noise, public safety, emergency response, tax impacts, site selection, community benefits, transparency and whether the project is connected to nuclear weapons research.
Dingell said she plans to make the answers public. People following the project may want to look for specific estimates on water and energy use, emergency services, tax impacts and any commitment to public engagement.
Ypsilanti Township has also scheduled an informational session for Wednesday, July 15, at 6 p.m. at the Ypsilanti Township Civic Center, 7200 S. Huron River Drive. The township’s notice says the session will include an informational update and time for public comment. Seating is limited and first come, first served.
Augusta and Pittsfield Remain on the List
Augusta Township remains part of the countywide watch, with an Aug. 4 ballot question over a rezoning tied to a proposed data center campus and a related recall effort aimed at local officials.
The township has also been considering Ordinance 26-04, a zoning text amendment that would allow temporary moratoriums while officials review zoning questions. The draft says a pause would last at least six months and no longer than one year, with possible extensions by township board resolution.
Pittsfield Township’s discussion is moving on a longer timeline. Its temporary moratorium is set to expire in November 2026, and a Planning Commission public hearing on a draft ordinance for data centers and other high-resource-demand facilities is scheduled for Aug. 6 at 6:30 p.m.
The draft addresses issues surfacing across the county, including water and sewer capacity, noise, generator emissions, renewable energy, closed-loop cooling, annual reporting and decommissioning.
State and Regional Debate Continues
State Rep. Reggie Miller has pointed to the Saline Township project as part of her push for more public input and local control. Miller has introduced legislation that would prohibit ex parte requests for data center development before the Michigan Public Service Commission and require contested hearings instead.
Other Michigan communities are using, or considering, moratoriums to study data centers before applications move too far ahead, including Texas Township near Kalamazoo and Garfield Township near Traverse City.
The Huron River Watershed Council has raised wetland and stormwater concerns over a proposed Google data center in Van Buren Township, a Wayne County project within the Huron River watershed. The connection matters because stormwater, wetland and cumulative-impact concerns do not stop at county lines.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has raised separate ratepayer concerns in the Google/DTE case, while contrasting that public contested-case review with earlier DTE contracts tied to the anticipated Saline Township artificial intelligence data center.
A June report from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan urges communities to evaluate data center proposals case by case. For residents, the practical question is less whether every data center is good or bad, and more whether each proposal answers the basics before approvals are granted: power, water, noise, infrastructure costs and guaranteed public benefits.
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