More than 100 rally against data centers at Michigan Capitol

[rmason]

If I could give any advice to the people planning those data centers, they've got it all wrong. They assume that since they're noisy that we will plop them smack in the middle of some good farm land, surround them with corn fields and it solves the noise problem.

In Michigan cities there is plenty of vacant land. Thousands of acres of vacant land. Here in Lansing the old GM owns two large plots where factories stood stamping out Oldsmobile's. There is all the power you would ever need. They're surrounded by other factories making possibly more noise than even a data centers fans. A small business community that has been decimated by the GM employees business in the neighborhood leaving.

So where do they ask to put a small data center? Right in the city's entertainment district! Makes less sense than putting it on farmland. Look Michigan needs the jobs, just a little common sense would go a long ways.

[dakna]

> So where do they ask to put a small data center? Right in the city's entertainment district! Makes less sense than putting it on farmland. Look Michigan needs the jobs, just a little common sense would go a long ways.

The site of the old GM Fisher Body plant is a sixty acres brownfield. The proposed downtown data center location is a one acre unused parking lot. It is close enough to LBWL, Lansing's utility company for water/electricity, to reuse the generated heat [1].

I don't think this really compares to the 270 acres data center for OpenAi/Oracle planned in Saline Township, which will be connected to one of the few 345kV transmission lines in Michigan. [2]

[1] https://www.lbwl.com/community/newsroom/2025-11-05-deep-gree...

[2] https://openinframap.org/#11.64/42.1244/-83.8008

[ekropotin]

Genuine question - are DCs really that noisy from outside? If so what is the source of the noise?

[100pctremote]

The real estate is usually purchased only after the following requirements are assured, and there are many: Local and regional power grid robustness which includes: ability to service long-term capacity commitments, whether the developer will need to invest in and build substations themselves, and the legality and availability for on-site power generation (natural gas or electric). All of those requirements generally come after an assessment of local and state government appetite and willingness to cut red tape for such deals and provide favorable environmental policy.

[Narkov]

Nothing in the article talks about noise pollution. Their concern is about resource usage - water and electricity.

[yellow_lead]

Only the xAI ones are noisy because they (illegally?) used mobile generators to meet electricity needs

[cebert]

As a Michigan resident, I can’t agree more. Also areas like Flint and Pontiac are in need of jobs and economic development.

[danans]

> Look Michigan needs the jobs, just a little common sense would go a long ways.

There will be few jobs created after construction is complete, and the ones created won't pay anything like typical tech comp.

[lovich]

Why would any company making data centers care about where they put them if the worst push back they get is less people than the company they employed to make sure janitors aren’t real employees of theirs, show up to protest?

They have no reason to change their behavior because no one has caused them enough pain to change their behavior.

[itake]

Can someone correct me if I am wrong?

The noise problem is caused by fans (air cooling). Data centers cooled by water do not have noisy fans. My understand is modern data center designs use close loop water systems, eliminating noise and water table issues.

[PunchyHamster]

I'd imagine it's because dragging the fiber to middle of nowhere can be pretty expensive

[eru]

Are you suggesting the people who plan data centres are stupid and/or not profit maximising?

[gweinberg]

How is "more than 100" people "rallying" even remotely newsworthy? What's the threshold, three?

[evil-olive]

if you read the article instead of just criticizing the headline:

> They listened to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel criticizing the lack of transparency with DTE, the utility that's associated with the Saline Township proposal, and legislators who protested tax breaks for data center projects.

> ...

> "We're talking about 1.4 gigawatts, which is, of course, enough to provide energy to a city of a million people," Nessel said. "I think we should be taking this extremely seriously, don't you? Do you guys trust DTE? Do you trust Open AI? Do we trust Oracle to look out for our best interests here in Michigan?"

this wasn't just a random group of 100 people, they were organized enough to get the state AG as well as multiple state legislators to speak. seems fairly newsworthy to me.

[topspin]

In Lansing, it was below freezing and windy most of the day. If I noticed 100 people standing around on the pavement for hours in that, I'd probably imagine they deserved at least some regard for their concerns. But then, I'm not a Michigan politician that needs to get gamer Johnny out of my basement and on to a cushy non-profit no-show kickback job, courtesy of whatever big tech outfit wants a data center.

[__float]

Three people could be a group of friends. More than 100 is clearly different.

Given that there are usually _zero_ people rallying in Lansing, this is notable enough for the local newspaper.

[al_borland]

It’s not just this group. A co-worker of mine went to his town meeting about a proposed data center. When he showed up it was standing room only and they had to move the meeting to a bigger venue. I’ve heard stories like this from a few people now around Michigan where they have been trying to put data centers. No one wants them.

[vkou]

> What's the threshold, three?

The threshold is an organization organizing it. Getting 100 people out demonstrates your political power to your supporters and the people you seek to influence. Getting 1,000 people demonstrates that you have more of it.

[ipnon]

There is very little common space in Michigan. There is a lot of private land, and a lot of public land, but very few spaces where people congregate. So when they do, it stands out quite a bit.

[cramcgrab]

Since the population is around 112k-114k people that would be around 111,900 people didn’t rally on the low end.

[nqzero]

there are dozens of us !

[sankyo]

It would be noteworthy if 100 people showed up to my 5 year old's piano recital.

not so much for a 300 acre noisy, water hogging data center.

[phantasmish]

It’s a movement at 50[1].

[1] A. Guthrie, 1967

[lingrush4]

It wouldn't be newsworthy if we could trust our representatives not give extra weight to the opinions of the people who yell the loudest.

[jeffbee]

I was recently reminded how easily the public can be whipped into a frenzy of ignorance when I happened to revisit the Guardian article from 8 years ago that claimed data centers would use 20% of global electricity by 2025.'

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/tsunami-...

[mmooss]

The article is about all internet-connected devices:

"Global computing power demand from internet-connected devices, high resolution video streaming, emails, surveillance cameras and a new generation of smart TVs is increasing 20% a year, consuming roughly 3-5% of the world’s electricity in 2015, says Swedish researcher Anders Andrae."

It's not crazy to think it might increase to 20%. How much is it really in 2025?

[zamadatix]

https://archive.is/8uNAJ

[kmoser]

The headline could be construed to mean the data centers will be installed in the Michigan Capitol. I would have written it as "More than 100 rally at Michigan Capitol against data centers".

[canyp]

The "at" does the trick there and the headline seems fine. Yours leaves no room for that kind of parse confusion, but I think English prefers to leave space/time adverbs and adverbial phrases at the end.

[t1234s]

I guess we have to build them in space.

[wongarsu]

At least in space the local residents don't complain

[1vuio0pswjnm7]

Amid polarization, opposition to Michigan data centers cuts across political lines

https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/12/amid-polarization-opposit...

Data center proposed for Downtown Lansing would be first of its kind in US

https://www.wilx.com/2025/11/05/data-center-proposed-downtow...

At least 16 sites eyed for data centers in Michigan amid AI boom. Here's where

https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/12/at-least-16-sites-eyed-fo...

"The man from Deep Green, who earlier repeatedly reiterated his intention to be a "good neighbor," responded by saying "I get it, you're Luddites."

https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/opinion,171738

Residents protest data centers outside Michigan Capitol as debates rage on

"One of the speakers, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, took the podium first."

https://www.wilx.com/2025/12/16/data-center-protest-outside-...

Michigan data center developments raise concerns over water and power use

https://www.9and10news.com/2025/12/12/michigan-data-center-d...

Activists seeking a statewide moratorium on new AI data centers to rally in Lansing next week

https://michiganadvance.com/briefs/activists-seeking-a-state...

At the same time, data center being proposed for Lansing, NY also drawing opposition from local residents

https://www.sierraclub.org/atlantic/finger-lakes/blog/2025/1...