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YSPILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Ypsilanti Township officials and residents are pushing back against a proposed $1.25 billion research computing center that would be developed in partnership between the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Dozens of residents packed the township’s civic center for an informational meeting, where officials made clear their opposition to the project.
Watch Brett Kast’s video report below:
Residents and officials push back on $1.25B University of Michigan data center plan
Township attorney Doug Winters did not hold back.
“A community benefit that we would want is for you to get the hell out of Ypsilanti Township,” Winters said, drawing applause from the crowd.
The message brought many in attendance to their feet. Winters continued, drawing another round of applause.
“Ypsilanti Township is not a commodity to be purchased — it is a community to be respected and our community is not for sale,” Winters said.
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The University of Michigan says the project is not a commercial data center, but rather a research computing center, and that as a result, it would use one-tenth the amount of energy as a typical data center.
Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo was not convinced by that distinction.
“It walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck — it’s a data center,” Stumbo said.
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Stumbo said the township is being left in the dark, noting that the university is not subject to the township’s zoning laws and that plans are being made without their approval.
“I feel like they like to locate in places with the least resistance. They made a mistake on this one,” Stumbo said.
Previous coverage: Rep. Dingell, residents express concern after Ypsilanti data center open house
Unanswered questions remain over proposed data center
While an exact site has not been selected, a parcel along Textile Road near Hydro Park was purchased by the university and is under consideration.
One resident expressed concern about that location.
“Across Textile, I got a grandchild who lives there, right around the corner from where the data center is going to be,” the resident said. “It doesn’t matter where in Ypsilanti Township, it’s going to affect me and mine.”
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Many residents raised concerns about the project’s connection to Los Alamos National Laboratory, fearing it could make the community a target for attacks.
“This is a high value target known around the world as being involved in the research of nuclear weapons,” Winters said.
In a statement, University of Michigan Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs Paul Corliss said the center would “advance scientific discovery in areas such as cancer treatment, drug development, climate science, energy resilience, artificial intelligence and national security… The center would not be a weapons manufacturing site or military installation, and no hazardous nuclear materials would be on-site.”
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Resident Kerin Hayden said that assurance did not fully ease her concerns.
“There’s not going to be nuclear materials on site. They sent us a postcard saying that. But the research part of it makes us a target, high value target is what we’ve been told,” Hayden said.
Not everyone at the meeting was opposed. One resident spoke in favor of the project.
“This isn’t some conspiracy. The internet, Facebook, all of it is hosted in data centers. It has been for decades. The AI hyperscale DCs (data centers) are just more power dense,” the resident said.
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A final decision on the site is expected within weeks. Hours before the meeting, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on data centers to sign a responsibility pledge, after initially promoting data centers and introducing incentives that brought them to the state.
“I think it’s too little too late,” Stumbo said.
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In the full statement, Corliss said:
“The University of Michigan is evaluating sites for a proposed high-performance research computing center—not a commercial data center—that would advance scientific discovery in areas such as cancer treatment, drug development, climate science, energy resilience, artificial intelligence and national security. As a national leader in research and innovation, U-M is pursuing this project to provide researchers with the computing capacity to solve the world’s most complex challenges—from improving health outcomes and predicting extreme weather to strengthening the power grid and developing cleaner energy technologies.
The project will not only strengthen Michigan’s research enterprise, but also create hundreds of high-quality jobs in both innovation and construction. Unlike commercial data centers that support consumer applications, this specialized research facility would use less than one-tenth the energy of a typical commercial data center and have a much smaller physical footprint.The project remains in active due diligence, and no final site has been selected. U-M is evaluating two locations in Ypsilanti Township that meet the technical and infrastructure requirements for this type of research facility.The university would build a dedicated DTE substation so the facility would not affect local electric service or place a direct burden on local ratepayers. And while we originally planned to use evaporative cooling for the facility due to the ready availability of utility provided water by YCUA, we are now pivoting to and actively exploring the use of a closed loop cooling system rather than an evaporative cooling system. Such a system would drastically reduce or eliminate daily water consumption for cooling. The overall costs, benefits, and environmental impacts of both types of systems are being evaluated.
The project would be developed in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory, expanding on a longstanding research partnership by establishing the laboratory’s first permanent research presence in Michigan and creating a first-of-its-kind partnership for the state to advance discovery and education. The center would not be a weapons manufacturing site or military installation, and no hazardous nuclear materials would be on-site.Throughout this process, U-M has met with local elected officials, hosted public open houses and engaged with residents. The university will continue providing updates and opportunities for community input as the evaluation moves forward. Interested neighbors may email us directly at [email protected].”
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