Michigan Said No.
They Built It Anyway.

Eight Numbers That Tell the Whole Story

You Don't Have to Wait for FOIA — These Are Already in Public Court Records and Government Dockets

Before you file a single request, here is what is already confirmed in court filings, utility commission dockets, official government press releases, and named published sources — specifically in Michigan.

🔴 SALINE TOWNSHIP — Community Voted 4-1 No. Developer Sued Within 48 Hours. Project Is Now Under Construction.

On September 10, 2025, the Saline Township Board of Trustees voted 4-1 — in front of packed chambers — to deny rezoning of 575 acres of farmland for a hyperscale data center connected to OpenAI and Oracle's Project Stargate. Two days later, on September 12, 2025, Related Digital and the site's landowners sued Saline Township, alleging "exclusionary zoning." Township officials subsequently reached a court-approved settlement allowing the project to proceed. The campus price tag has now grown from $7 billion to $16 billion. Construction is underway.

🔴 AUGUSTA TOWNSHIP — Board Approved. Residents Gathered 957 Signatures to Put It on the Ballot. Recall Threatened.

The Augusta Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved rezoning for a data center. Residents responded by gathering 957 petition signatures — more than the 560 required — to place the rezoning ordinance on the August 2026 ballot (Ballotpedia confirmed: "Augusta Township, Michigan, Rezone Agricultural Residential to General Industrial for Data Center Referendum, August 2026"). Multiple residents and community advocates stated the entire township board could face recall over the vote.

🟠 HOWELL TOWNSHIP (LIVINGSTON COUNTY) — Meta Behind Data Center. Township Passed 6-Month Moratorium Nov 2025.

On November 21, 2025, the Howell Township Board voted to approve a 6-month moratorium on data centers, after a trustee publicly stated that Meta was behind the proposed project on more than 1,000 acres. The moratorium came a day after disclosure of Meta's involvement. Community group "Stop the Data Centers Livingston County" noted the moratorium may not cover the current developer's application. The project remains active.

🟠 DTE RATE HIKE — $474 MILLION REQUEST. AG NESSEL CALLED IT A "RANSOM NOTE." Filed April 28, 2026.

On April 28, 2026, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced she would intervene in DTE's latest rate increase application — a request for $474.3 million annually, a 9.7% increase for residential customers. DTE simultaneously offered a 2-year rate freeze if the Saline data center opens on time — what AG Nessel publicly described as a "ransom note." This came just two months after the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a prior $242.2 million rate increase averaging $4.23/month per residential customer. DTE had already collected over $1.5 billion in rate increases in recent years.

🟠 YCUA WATER MORATORIUM — April 22, 2026. Ypsilanti Utility Cut Off Water Supply to Data Centers.

On April 22, 2026, the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA) Board of Commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium on providing water and sewer services to data centers. Resolution No. 2026-08 specifically prohibits YCUA from executing any capacity reservation agreements or issuing "Will-Serve" letters to data centers during the moratorium period. This directly affects the University of Michigan-linked data center facility in the area. It was the first utility-level water cutoff of its kind in Michigan.

🔵 GREAT LAKES WATER — Michigan Requires Registration at 100,000 Gallons/Day. Data Centers Consume Up to 5 Million.

Under Michigan law, any entity proposing to withdraw 100,000 gallons per day or more must register with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Data centers typically consume 1 to 5 million gallons per day — up to 50 times that threshold. The Alliance for the Great Lakes' published report (August 2025) confirmed that hyperscale data centers nationally are forecast to withdraw 150.4 billion gallons between 2025 and 2030. Planet Detroit (November 2025) confirmed that between 40–75% of Great Lakes residents depend on groundwater for drinking water — and groundwater shortages are not covered by the same protections as surface water withdrawals under the Great Lakes Compact.

🟢 STATE LEGISLATION — House Bills 5594-5596 Introduced. Bipartisan. Would Halt All Data Centers Until April 1, 2027.

Rep. Jennifer Wortz (R-Quincy) introduced House Bills 5594, 5595, and 5596 — a bipartisan package that would impose a statewide moratorium on data center construction until April 1, 2027. HB 5594 halts approvals and operations. HB 5595 blocks MPSC from approving utility agreements with data centers. HB 5596 blocks water service approvals. As of mid-2026 these bills are in committee. They have not yet passed — but their introduction means the legislature has officially acknowledged the threat on the record.

What Is Already Happening to Michigan's Water — Before Any New Data Center Draws a Drop

Michigan sits above one of the most valuable freshwater systems on Earth. That value is also its vulnerability. Here is what the official records show about the water your communities depend on — right now, before you add millions of gallons per day in data center demand.

🔴 HURON RIVER — PFAS "DO NOT EAT" ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT. Issued 2018. Confirmed Active 2025.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued a "Do Not Eat" fish advisory for all fish species from the Huron River — covering Livingston, Oakland, and Washtenaw Counties — in August 2018, after Tribar Manufacturing discharged high levels of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) into the river. As of February 2026, WEMU confirmed: "The Huron River has PFAS contamination and remains under a do not eat fish advisory and has been under that advisory since 2018." Trump administration proposed PFAS standard rollbacks in early 2025 have compounded the risk to the watershed.

🔴 GELMAN 1,4-DIOXANE PLUME — 3 SQUARE MILES OF CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER Under Western Ann Arbor and Scio Township

The Pall-Gelman Sciences 1,4-dioxane plume is one of the largest groundwater contamination events in Michigan history. EGLE's own official mapping (gis-egle.hub.arcgis.com) tracks the plume using maximum concentrations from 2023 sampling. The Washtenaw County Health Board confirmed 1,4-dioxane in 30 residential wells. Great Lakes Echo (August 2025) reported that EGLE found the toxic chemical in six residential water wells in Scio Township during annual state testing. EGLE's permit currently allows discharges of 1,4-dioxane up to 22 ppb into Honey Creek, which flows into the Huron River. Planet Detroit confirmed the extraction system meant to stop the plume was pulling only 1.47 gallons per minute by July 2024.

🟠 GREAT LAKES COMPACT — THE LOOPHOLE DATA CENTERS ARE EXPLOITING

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (ratified by all 8 states and signed into federal law 2008) prohibits diversions of Great Lakes water outside the basin. But within-basin withdrawals — including groundwater connected to tributaries — are subject to state-level management, not Compact prohibition. Microsoft stated publicly it does not expect its data centers to trigger Compact review. JD Supra's legal analysis confirmed: "Net-consumptive withdrawals from the Basin trigger Compact obligations" — but only above specific thresholds, and only if properly classified. The Alliance for the Great Lakes (August 2025 report) explicitly found that the region is not prepared for growing data center water demands and that the Compact was not designed to address this scale of industrial consumption. Circle of Blue (2026) identified this as a "governance gap."

🟠 WATER WITHDRAWAL ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (WWAP) — MICHIGAN'S ONLY TOOL. AND IT HAS A 2-MILLION GALLON PERMIT GAP.

Michigan's Part 327 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (MCL 324.32706) requires registration for any withdrawal of 100,000 gallons per day or more. A formal permit is required only when withdrawals exceed 2,000,000 gallons per day (or 1,388 gallons per minute) — per EGLE's own FAQ. This means a data center consuming up to 1.99 million gallons per day needs only to register — not obtain a permit, not undergo public review, not trigger a hearing. The registration database is publicly searchable at michigan.gov/egle. Microsoft's Mount Pleasant facility was permitted to use up to 2.8 million gallons per day of Lake Michigan water — the threshold that does require a permit — but smaller facilities fall through the gap.

🟠 GREAT LAKES WATER LEVELS — DECLINING FROM RECORD HIGHS. Dry Fall Seasons 2023–2025.

Planet Detroit (March 2026) confirmed: "A pattern of dry fall seasons from 2023–2025 contributed to the Great Lakes' falling water levels." The Guardian (December 2025) reported: "Water levels across the Great Lakes are falling — just as US data centers move in." USACE publishes monthly water level bulletins — all public — confirming the decline. The Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's surface freshwater, but that percentage is declining. University of Michigan SEAS research (2026) documented that data centers can use between 150,000 and over 5 million gallons per day — the latter "equivalent to the demand from a small city."

🔴 THE TAX EXEMPTION THAT OPENED THE DOOR — AND INCLUDED NO WATER PROTECTION

In April 2024, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Public Acts 181 and 207 of 2024 — the Enterprise Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption — which took effect April 2, 2025. Michigan Business confirmed: the law extended the exemption through 2050 with added incentives for brownfield sites. Inside Climate News (December 2025) confirmed Michigan lawmakers subsequently introduced a bipartisan bill to repeal these exemptions, with CBS News Detroit reporting Southeast Michigan legislators teamed up on the effort. The exemption laws included no mandatory water impact assessment, no water withdrawal disclosure requirement, and no environmental review requirement as a condition of receiving the tax benefit.

🟢 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GROUNDWATER REPORT 2026 — WASHTENAW COUNTY IS A CASE STUDY

In April 2026, the University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute published "A Groundwater Strategy for Michigan" (seas.umich.edu). The report uses Washtenaw County as one of three case studies — alongside Ottawa and Antrim Counties — examining how Michigan must manage industrial contamination, groundwater scarcity, and large water withdrawals simultaneously. The report explicitly identifies data center water demand as a factor in groundwater stress. This is not a lobbying document — it is a University of Michigan academic publication. It is publicly downloadable from seas.umich.edu.

The Legal Framework — What Exists, What the Gaps Are, and How to Use It

Where Michigan Communities Are Fighting Back — and What Happened

This is a documented record — not a news summary. Each entry is sourced to a named publication, official vote record, or court filing.

⚡ DTE Collected $1.5 Billion in Rate Increases — Then Filed for $474 Million More

Here is the documented rate increase timeline for DTE residential customers:

Support group: Citizens Utility Board of Michigan — cubofmichigan.org — free ratepayer advocacy, can intervene in MPSC proceedings on your behalf at no cost.

💧 The Great Lakes Are Not Infinite — And Michigan Law Has a 100,000 Gallon Trigger Nobody Is Enforcing

Michigan requires registration with EGLE for any withdrawal of 100,000 gallons per day or more. A single hyperscale data center can use 1 to 5 million gallons per day — up to 50 times that threshold. Between 40–75% of Great Lakes region residents depend on groundwater, which has different and weaker protections than surface water under the Great Lakes Compact.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes August 2025 report confirmed hyperscale data centers are forecast to withdraw 150.4 billion gallons nationally between 2025 and 2030 — equivalent to the annual water use of 4.6 million U.S. households. Microsoft's Mount Pleasant facility alone was permitted to use up to 2.8 million gallons of Lake Michigan water in 2026, per Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reporting.

These Documents Are Already in the Public Record — You Can Reference Them Today

🛡️ What You Can Do Right Now — Free, No Lawyer Needed

Michigan's FOIA law: MCL 15.231 et seq. Any public body must respond within 5 business days. First response is free. If denied, appeal to the head of the public body within 180 days. If still denied, you can file a circuit court action — and if you win, the court can award attorney fees against the agency.

Intervene in the DTE Rate Case — Right Now

The MPSC docket for DTE's $474.3 million rate case is open. Any Michigan resident can file written comments. Go to michigan.gov/mpsc, search for DTE's April 28, 2026 electric rate case. Submit your comments in the public record — they become part of the official proceeding. AG Nessel has already intervened. You can too.

Vote August 2026 — Augusta Township

If you are a registered voter in Augusta Township, the data center rezoning referendum is on your August 2026 ballot. A "No" vote repeals Ordinance No. 2025-02 and returns those parcels to Agricultural Residential zoning. Confirm your registration at michigan.gov/vote.

Contact Erin Brockovich's Team

Michigan's pattern — communities voting no, being sued, settling under duress — is exactly the kind of documented democratic override that Erin Brockovich has focused on nationally. Her team can be reached at brockovichdatacenter.com. The Saline Township court records alone — a community of under 3,000 people overridden by a $16 billion corporation — are the kind of evidence her team is actively collecting.

Who Is Already Working on This in Michigan