The Michigan for Responsible Data Centers coalition hosted a virtual town hall on Aug. 13, 2026, to answer common questions about data center development and provide residents, businesses, and local leaders with clear, accurate information about the issue.
The cross-sector coalition is focused on correcting misinformation and supporting responsible development that delivers community benefit while strengthening Michigan’s competitiveness.
For the Detroit Regional Chamber, that framing matters: Michigan should be prepared to compete for 21st-century infrastructure and innovation while ensuring residents, ratepayers, businesses, and natural resources are protected.
Not All Data Centers Are the Same
Much of the discussion centered on helping the public understand that data centers vary significantly by scale, use, and local impact. Panelists noted that smaller facilities may support local connectivity and resemble office or commercial buildings, whereas hyperscale projects can operate more like major industrial investments due to their power demand, heat output, backup generation, cooling systems, site needs, and potential community impacts.
Michigan’s existing oversight systems can help provide certainty, safeguards, and transparency for responsible development without positioning oversight as a barrier to investment.
“Data centers aren’t all the same, and I think it’s important to keep that perspective,” said Jeff Guilfoyle, Senior Strategist at Public Sector Consultants. “Rather than just opposing data centers totally, I think it’s very important to look at these projects one by one and see what the merits are and how you can make it work in your community.”
Putting Common Concerns in Context
The town hall also gave experts an opportunity to address questions about reliability, water use, local tax value, environmental safeguards, transparency, and the role data centers play in supporting modern business, healthcare, security, and everyday technology. Panelists emphasized the value of moving beyond reaction and toward fact-based conversations about economic development.
“The problem that I see is that communities are reacting rather than having a conversation about what kind of transformational investment they need and saying under what terms,” said Sarah Mills, Director of the Graham Sustainability Institute’s Center for EmPowering Communities at the University of Michigan.
Tyler Thiele, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Anderson Economic Group said the potential economic impact is also part of why the conversation matters: “There is a demand for data centers, and there are businesses, and there are people that are meeting that demand. And if we bring those here, it could generate a lot of economic activity and revenue for local services.”
Turning Information Into Responsible Growth
Responsible data center development starts with accurate information, clear expectations, and a balanced understanding of benefits, risks, and safeguards. Eric Dennis, Research Associate of Infrastructure at the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, said the public debate is often shaped by broader concerns about technology, artificial intelligence, and major tech companies.
“Opposition to data centers has become, I think, something of a cultural phenomenon that can’t entirely be explained by the attributes of the data centers themselves,” Dennis said. “[The Citizens Research Council of Michigan’s] research is an earnest attempt to objectively evaluate the issues based on available evidence.”
“In the last 40 years, everything that we do runs on a data center, whether it’s your cell phone, whether it’s your major industry, a hospital, the medical records industry, all of these things operate on a data center,” said Joe Sovis, Vice President of Matrix Consulting Engineers. “They’re not all AI-scale data centers, but everybody needs a data center, whether it’s for security, whether it’s for information, or whether it’s for entertainment, everybody needs a data center.”
As demand for digital infrastructure continues to accelerate across the country, the latest independent analysis released today from Public Sector Consultants, commissioned by the Michigan Chamber Foundation in partnership with the Detroit Regional Chamber, finds Michigan can responsibly compete for data center investment while building on existing safeguards through targeted policy improvements. Get the facts and read more here.