The people of Van Buren Township and surrounding communities are saying loud and clear: we do not want this data center. The developer, Panattoni, plans to build a data center on approximately 280 Acres bounded on the South by North Interstate 94 Service Drive, on the North I-275, on the West by Haggerty Rd and on the East by Hannan Rd. Town meetings are specifically being designed not to hear the opposition and cons of these data centers. But our voices are being ignored in favor of billion-dollar deals brokered behind closed doors.

We are being told this project would create jobs and preserve green space. But what we see is the destruction of rural land, unprecedented strain on our energy grid, and a growing fear that Michigan’s most precious resources—our land, water, and community health—are being sacrificed for private profit.

DTE says similar data centers will demand 25% more energy than the entire current system. Even with promises not to raise rates, residents across the state are already seeing higher bills, rolling blackouts, and schoolchildren told to limit electricity use. And while developers claim “low water use,” residents know the real risks data centers pose—depleting aquifers, raising local temperatures, and polluting runoff.

We also know that similar projects in places like Howell, Michigan have been paused due to overwhelming public opposition. We urge Michigan leaders to stop sacrificing rural communities to unchecked tech expansion. Our power grid, land, and future deserve better. Van Buren Township should not become a testing ground for Big Tech’s ambitions at the expense of the people who call this place home.
Let’s call on our politicians to do the right thing and serve the people who put them in their positions in the first place by signing this petition.

For more information visit this link:

https://stpp.fordschool.umich.edu/sites/stpp/files/2025-07/stpp-data-centers-2025.pdf