Michigan

Energy/Power is the dominant stressor: the debate centers on whether new hyperscale load will raise electric bills, require special utility contracts, and force new generation or storage buildout (Bridge Michigan, Michigan Public). Water/Geology is the second pressure point, especially around municipal supply limits, groundwater, and consumptive use in Ypsilanti and Augusta (Michigan Public).

Governor: Democrat Jocelyn Benson, independent Mike Duggan, and Republicans John James, Tom Leonard, Mike Cox, Aric Nesbitt, Anthony Hudson, Perry Johnson, Ralph Rebandt, and Chris Swanson have all taken public positions; Benson favors limits on water/rate impacts, Duggan wants statewide siting standards and ratepayer protections, James calls the current approach “crazy,” and Leonard has made a yearlong moratorium central to his campaign (Bridge Michigan).

No statewide moratorium was enacted as of May 2026; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and House Majority Leader Matt Hall both said they do not support a statewide pause, and Whitmer’s office said any moratorium bill would be a veto target (Bridge Michigan). Locally, at least 19 Michigan communities had passed or proposed temporary moratoriums by Feb. 2026 (Bridge Michigan); Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority approved a 12-month ban on supplying water or sewer service to hyperscale, mid-size, AI, and high-performance computing centers pending studies (Michigan Public).

Michigan’s 2024 data center tax exemption package remained in effect in 2026, while new 2025-2026 guardrail proposals targeted ratepayer exposure. Senate Democrats introduced SB 761-763 to limit extreme water withdrawals, require annual MPSC reporting on data-center water and energy use, and protect taxpayers from financing new water infrastructure tied to expanded withdrawals (Michigan Public). The Michigan Attorney General also challenged DTE special contracts tied to Saline Township, arguing cost-of-service and ratepayer protections had not been fully tested in a contested case (Michigan AG).

Yes. Augusta Charter Township, Washtenaw County has a 2026 veto referendum over Ordinance No. 2025-02, which rezoned 522.2 acres for a proposed data center campus; a yes vote upholds the rezoning and a no vote repeals it (Ballotpedia).

1) Saline Township hyperscale campus, Washtenaw County — OpenAI, Oracle, and Related Digital/Related Companies; Michigan’s first approved hyperscale data center, but still politically contentious and under appeal on utility contracts (Bridge Michigan, Michigan AG). 2) Augusta Charter Township data center campus, Washtenaw County — Thor Equities project; rezoning approved and now headed to a 2026 ballot referendum (Ballotpedia, Michigan Public). 3) Van Buren Township / Project Cannoli, Wayne County — Google evaluating a roughly 1-gigawatt site powered by DTE, with local site-plan review and wetland/permitting concerns (Bridge Michigan).

Michigan Economic Development Responsibility Alliance; Michigan Environmental Council; Michigan Municipal League; local township anti-data-center coalitions in Saline Township, Ypsilanti Township, Augusta Township, Howell Township, and Sylvan Township (Bridge Michigan).

None identified at the state political-surface layer as of May 2026. Talent and workforce dynamics in Michigan surface primarily at the sub-state and labor-market level — county and municipal proceedings on named projects, regional building trades council positions, and utility commission workforce testimony — which are out of scope for the tracker's state-political-surface read. Request a full RAIL briefing for sub-state and labor-market analysis.

Growing cluster. Michigan had no hyperscale data centers in early 2026 but at least 17 proposed projects across the state, with the first hyperscale campus approved in Saline Township and multiple large proposals in metro Detroit and Washtenaw County (Bridge Michigan, Bridge Michigan).

“At least 19 communities have passed or proposed moratoriums on data center development” — Bridge Michigan, Feb. 2, 2026 (Bridge Michigan).

Bridge Michigan: gubernatorial candidates on data centers, Bridge Michigan: local moratoriums, Michigan Public: YCUA 12-month water ban, Michigan Public: Senate Democrats’ bills, Ballotpedia: Augusta Township referendum, Michigan AG: appeal of Saline contracts