LANSING, Mich. — Michigan state lawmakers are proposing a pause on data center construction as questions remain about energy demands and affordability for consumers.
WATCH BELOW: State lawmakers propose pausing data center construction in Michigan for up to a year
State Rep. Jennifer Wortz introduced House Bills 5594-5596, which would halt data center construction for up to a year. The bills have been referred to the House Committee on Government Operations for consideration.
"On this issue, I think it's less about politics, and more about affordability," Wortz said.
A key concern driving the legislation is whether the state has enough energy to support the growing demand.
"Do we have the energy that we're going to need without assaulting rural America to get it?" Wortz said.
Wortz says the pause would allow time to identify the best locations for new facilities.
"Let's put a pause on this, let's figure out logical places for these," Wortz said.
On Thursday, top tech companies including Amazon, Google and Meta signed a pledge to President Trump that new data centers would not increase electricity prices for residential customers. Wortz, however, believes rules should be set in place to protect consumers.
Bipartisan legislation that took effect last year offered tax breaks on data centers, creating demand for large projects in Michigan. Those breaks apply to data centers that source 90% of their electricity using clean energy within six years.
"The green energy mandate is not sustainable or affordable," Wortz said.
Among the local projects in the works is the Deep Green Data Center in downtown Lansing. Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tim Daman says delaying that project would have consequences.
"It would slow things down and moritorium and economic development just don't go together. We have to be very careful and very deliberate with how we're looking at potential policies and bills," Daman said.
Daman says economic growth remains a priority for the region.
"Continuing to struggle on attracting jobs, investment, and keeping young professionals here in our state, and an aging population, you know we need to be more welcoming of economic development," Daman said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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