Google, DTE plan 1 GW Michigan data center

DTE Energy and Google announced plans on Tuesday to develop a 1-gigawatt data center in Michigan. The facility may be part of the Project Cannoli development in Van Buren Township. It would be backed by 2.7 gigawatts of new solar power, energy storage, and demand flexibility resources. Will Conkling, Google's head of data center development for the Americas, said in a blog post that the planned operations will be served by those new grid resources. DTE filed contracts with the Michigan Public Service Commission to support the Google development on Tuesday afternoon. The utility requested a decision by Sept. 10 and is filing the application as a contested case. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a press release that Google committed to pursuing a contested case with the commission. Nessel said the company obviously learned a lesson from the Oracle and Open AI boondoggle in Saline Township. DTE said the contracts with Google include provisions to ensure the tech giant pays the full cost of serving its load. The contract is expected to have nearly 1.7 billion dollars in positive affordability benefits for existing customers, according to DTE. The data center plans call for it to begin taking service in December 2027, with maximum load achieved by December 2028. Google said it will introduce a 10 million dollar fund to improve energy affordability in Michigan communities. The fund will include home weatherization, efficiency, and workforce development initiatives. Google is evaluating a site in Van Buren Township for the project. The data center would occupy 282 acres and use roughly 1 gigawatt of electricity and around 2 million to 3.6 million gallons of water a day. More than 1,500 people have signed a petition opposing the Van Buren Township data center.