City Moves to Pause Development While Considering Future Regulations
*PORTAGE, MI* — The Portage City Council on March 24 unanimously voted to advance an ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS) within city limits. The action does not immediately enact the ban, but instead directs city staff to prepare amendments to the city code for future council consideration.
According to the meeting agenda, the proposed change would amend Chapter 42 of the city code to establish a temporary moratorium on the developments. If adopted at a future meeting, the moratorium would pause new development related to data centers and battery storage systems while the city considers how to regulate them.
The vote comes as local governments across Michigan and the country grapple with how to regulate data centers, which require significant infrastructure, including land, electricity and water.
"Demand is outstripping supply, and investors are rushing," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said during a recent town hall on data centers in Howell, Michigan.
That growth has brought increased scrutiny. In some communities across the U.S., residents and local officials have raised concerns about the large amounts of electricity required to operate data centers, potential strain on local power grids, water use for cooling systems, and noise from cooling equipment and backup generators.
At the same time, developers and some policymakers point to potential economic benefits, including tax revenue, infrastructure investment and job creation.
Residents Voice Concerns Over Rising Utility Bills and Environmental Risks
During a public hearing on the moratorium proposal Tuesday night, citizens said existing data and storage plants have driven up local utility bills in communities where they are already located and pose a physical and environmental threat.
Cheryl Lathrop says her Consumers Energy bills are already high enough.
Jason Mikkelborg and Katelyn Clarey say the high-tech plants can create brand new kinds of cataclysms that most local public safety departments are not equipped to handle.
The Portage City Council will meet at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday at Portage City Hall. The move comes as local governments across Michigan and the country grapple with how to regulate data centers, which require significant infrastructure, including land, electricity and water.
Data centers are facilities that house servers and other computing equipment used to store and process digital information. Demand for such facilities has grown rapidly in recent years alongside cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies.
That growth has brought increased scrutiny. In some communities across the U.S., residents and local officials have raised concerns about the large amounts of electricity required to operate data centers, potential strain on local power grids, water use for cooling systems, and noise from cooling equipment and backup generators.
State Advances Battery Project as Local Officials Weigh Development Pause
Michigan approved the Big Mitten battery project in Huron County Friday as local officials begin to weigh moratoriums on other large-scale development. The largest approved project will be located in Huron County and comes with a 20-year agreement with DTE.
The Michigan Public Service Commission also approved five additional energy storage projects across the state, totaling 1,332 megawatts of capacity. The six projects approved across the state include:
- 450-megawatt Big Mitten Energy Center
- 350-megawatt Monroe I Energy Center
- 200-megawatt Fermi Energy Center
- 132-megawatt Fish Creek Energy Center
- 100-megawatt Cold Creek Energy Center
- 100-megawatt Pine River Energy Center
Local farmer and volunteer firefighter Jordan Sieman previously told the Tribune he is concerned about fires at data centers or battery storage facilities in Huron County. He said these fires are difficult to put out and require a special chemical that most local fire departments — especially volunteer departments — do not have in sufficient supply.
Megan Mellas, a fellow Huron County native who returned to the area to raise her family in the same rural community where she grew up, added to Sieman's point.
"You have to be considerate of the soil health, drainage systems and land structure that can be permanently altered for decades after industrial use," Mellas said.
Despite these concerns, the commissioners voted 5-1 Feb. 24 to approve text amendments to the county's rules for large-scale solar energy and battery storage projects. The changes require developers to enter into formal agreements with host communities, including a host agreement implementing a $2,000-per-megawatt payment to the county.
Federal Leaders Consider AI Data Center Moratorium Legislation
At the federal level, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced plans on March 25 for their own moratorium to introduce legislation aimed at pausing certain artificial intelligence and data center development while federal standards are considered.
While moratoriums on data centers have been discussed in other parts of the country, they remain relatively uncommon at the municipal level in southwest Michigan. Similar concerns have surfaced locally. In Pavilion Township, officials last year delayed consideration of a proposed data center project after residents raised concerns during public meetings.
A real estate firm, Franklin Partners, had requested a zoning change to allow what it described as "data warehousing facilities."
The Portage action represents an early step toward potential local regulation, with additional council action required before any moratorium takes effect.
"The Portage action represents an early step toward potential local regulation, with additional council action required before any moratorium takes effect," Maxwell Knauer, a staff writer for Watershed Voice, reported.
The Portage City Council on March 24 unanimously voted to move forward with an ordinance that would establish a temporary moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The action does not immediately enact the moratorium. Instead, it directs city staff to prepare an amendment to the city code for future council consideration.
According to the meeting agenda, the proposed change would amend Chapter 42 of the city code to establish a temporary moratorium on the developments.
"The Portage action represents an early step toward potential local regulation, with additional council action required before any moratorium takes effect," Knauer noted.
The Portage action represents an early step toward potential local regulation, with additional council action required before any moratorium takes effect.