Google Announces Gigawatt Data Center in Van Buren Township With DTE Energy, Committing to Clean Power and Grid Flexibility

Tech Giant Eyes New Michigan Location as AI Boom Fuels Data Center Rush

Google announced plans to build a massive data center in Van Buren Township near Detroit, partnering with utility DTE Energy to power the facility with renewable energy and advanced grid management capabilities. The project represents a significant investment in Michigan as artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for computing power nationwide.

According to regulatory filings, DTE Energy is proposing a 20-year contract with Google in which the utility will build 1,600 megawatts of renewable energy projects, 480 megawatts of energy storage, and 300 megawatts of zonal resource credits to provide additional grid capacity from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

Google said the project in Van Buren Township will have 1,000 megawatts of electricity demand, making it one of the largest data center facilities in the state. The announcement was revealed in a blog post and state regulatory filing, with Google describing the project as a commitment to clean energy solutions that directly support Michigan's climate goals.

Demand Response Makes Data Centers Grid Assets, Not Just Consumers

What sets Google's approach apart from other data center projects is its emphasis on demand response programs that transform data centers from purely energy consumers into active participants in power grid management. Google said the Michigan project and four others across the country have a combined total of 1,000 megawatts of demand response capability at their data centers.

Demand response is a critical mechanism for managing electricity during periods of high demand. A utility or grid operator can signal to data center customers to ramp down electricity use when the grid is stressed. According to the regulatory filing, Google's data centers have the capability to reduce power consumption during high-demand periods without compromising essential operations.

It's a fork in the road, said Forest Bradley-Wright, state and utility director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. He said Google's announcement is an important first step in figuring out how data centers can manage electricity demand.

Bradley-Wright explained that 1,000 megawatts of demand response is a significant number, the equivalent of avoiding the need to build two to three new gas plants that cost billions of dollars.

Ayse Coskun, a professor at Boston University and chief scientist at Emerald AI, said a data center can reduce its power demand by up to 25 percent and still perform essential functions. It can reduce demand by even more if needed, but this becomes more challenging for performance after a few hours.

Reducing demand is often a matter of prioritizing the tasks at a data center, allowing some processes to slow down or pause if they aren't time-sensitive, Coskun said.

Google's initiatives, according to Coskun, are an important step towards a new paradigm when data centers are not just large energy consumers, but they are active participants in power grid management, so they become helpful, they become assets to the grid.

Michigan Attorney General Calls for Guardrails Amid Data Center Boom

The announcement comes amid a wave of more than 15 new data center proposals in Michigan, sparking concerns about transparency, environmental impact, and who ultimately pays for the massive infrastructure required to support these facilities.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel advocated for guardrails in the form of laws and contracts to prevent electric ratepayers and taxpayers from footing the bill for the massive amounts of power and water the centers use. She also said agreements should be in place with tech companies to ensure they'll remediate data center sites if the centers become obsolete or the AI bubble bursts.

But if we don't make our voices heard now, the opportunity to welcome the industry to our state responsibly will pass us by and we'll be forced to live with the consequences of bad contracts, rushed deals, and cut corners for decades and decades to come, Nessel said.

Nessel called for transparent contracts between tech companies and the Michigan Public Service Commission, saying she doesn't think the state should just take these companies at their word.

These AI companies have been making a lot of promises to sell local communities on the idea of building a new data center in their backyard. And they do promise a lot of jobs, but most of them occur in the construction phases, Nessel said.

Nessel also questioned state tax breaks for data centers, proposing an example of a $90 million break for a center that provides 30 jobs.

Google's approach differs from the data center project in Saline Township that Nessel opposed. While the Saline project was fast-tracked with heavily redacted contracts, Google has committed to pursuing a contested case with the MPSC, which allows for greater transparency and public oversight.

State Representative Sees Industrial Revolution Opportunity

State Rep. Joey Andrews compared the data center boom to the railroad boom that once spread across the United States, saying this is the new industrial revolution. He hosted a town hall meeting in Benton Township to discuss the implications of data centers coming to the state with a panel of experts including Attorney General Nessel and a representative of Google.

Yes, we're giving them a 6 percent sales and use tax break, but as I stated earlier, you don't get these projects without those, Andrews said. So it's basically not losing anything because it was nothing you were ever going to get. You were never going to get the $90 million from the company because the company was never going to be here without the tax break, Andrews said.

Andrews said data centers are booming now, and Michigan can't miss out on its one shot to benefit, stressing the enormous affect the centers could have on local governments and schools by expanding the tax base.

What does that do to the community? Well, in our case, let's say, using local areas as an example, you'd be doubling budgets of local school systems, your local townships. That means the township in the capital of Virginia cut property taxes for local residents because they now have a huge commercial property, industrial property tax payer. Our community college would stand to gain millions of dollars, our county government would gain millions of dollars, Andrews said.

Google Representative Emphasizes Community Investment

Google's Grace Walovich said the company always strives to ensure it pays for all power it consumes and invests in energy efficiency. Walovich talked about the jobs created by Google data centers.

These structures, our infrastructure particularly, when they are fully up and operational, it's several hundred jobs, and it's a combination of both tech and non-tech, Walovich said.

She described technical folks that are walking the halls of the data center, making sure the guts of all the computers and the chips are working, along with non-tech positions.

We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to plant deeper roots in Michigan, Walovich said. We are committed to paying our way and bringing clean energy solutions to the state that will directly support the larger state climate goals. And again, our approach to data center development is rooted in responsibility. We don't just build facilities, we want to be part of the community fabric and find ways to engage with the local communities, Walovich said.

Union Leader Sees Construction Boom Benefits

Jason Piontek with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 153, representing workers in Berrien and Cass counties as well as parts of Indiana, said data center projects have meant big business for the skilled trades.

For the past 14 to 16 months, we have been working on the AWS Data Campus in New Carlisle, Piontek said. That data campus has approximately about 1,950 electricians and technicians working for about 13 traveling contractors.

What Google's Project Means for Michigan

The Google data center in Van Buren Township represents a different path than other data center proposals in Michigan. While the Saline Township project faced criticism for secret contracts and lack of transparency, Google's commitment to a contested case hearing suggests a more collaborative approach with regulators.

The project's emphasis on renewable energy and demand response positions Google's facility as a model for how data centers can integrate with the electric grid rather than simply placing additional strain on it. The 1,600 megawatts of renewable energy projects that DTE will build, combined with 480 megawatts of energy storage, could help Michigan advance its clean energy transition while meeting the growing demands of the AI industry.

Google's announcement follows similar developments across the Midwest, with the company pursuing data center projects in Arkansas, Indiana, Minnesota, and Tennessee, each with demand response agreements with local utilities.

We don't have those numbers to share, a Google spokeswoman said when asked for a breakdown of the 1,000 megawatts of demand response by utility territory and an estimate of the total capacity of its data centers.

The Road Ahead

The MPSC has previously approved six energy storage contracts totaling 1,332 megawatts to boost grid reliability and support the state's energy transition. These contracts were approved in late March 2026, signaling that Michigan is actively building the infrastructure needed to support large-scale data center development.

Attorney General Nessel's office attempted to review DTE data center contracts at the MPSC but those efforts were rejected, with regulators saying the groups calling for more hearings lacked standing.

Google's project in Van Buren Township will undergo a contested case process, which provides opportunities for public comment, expert testimony, and regulatory scrutiny before contracts are finalized. This approach contrasts with the fast-tracked approval process that Nessel has criticized for the Saline Township project.

As Michigan continues to attract data center investment, the balance between embracing economic opportunity and protecting ratepayers from unintended costs remains a critical policy question. Google's approach, with its focus on clean energy and grid flexibility, offers a potential model for how the state can pursue data center development while advancing climate goals.