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Over 600 Residents Pack Michigan Township Hearing to Oppose Microsoft Data Center — Company Can't Answer Basic Water Questions
MI
Data Centers / Community Opposition
April 17, 2026
Source: UWIRE
More than 600 people — most living within one mile of the proposed site — attended a Gaines Township planning commission hearing on Microsoft's request to rezone land from residential to light industrial for an AI data center. The hours-long public comment session ran overwhelmingly against the project, with residents raising concerns about rising electricity costs, water usage, stormwater runoff, and noise.
Microsoft's representatives claimed the facility would not increase electric costs, would replenish more water than it uses, and would add to the local tax base — but attendees and reporting noted the company “failed to fully describe how each goal would be achieved.” State Representative Angela Rigas said she had requested a comparison chart of water usage and had not received a satisfactory answer. Commissioners stated they wanted a “more thorough agreement” with Microsoft before taking up the ordinance.
This comes as Michigan's attorney general challenges secret data center energy contracts in the same state, and Virginia poll numbers show public support for data centers collapsing nationally.
What You Can Do
Attend future Gaines Township planning commission meetings. Commissioners have not yet voted on Microsoft's rezoning request. They said they want a “more thorough agreement” — meaning there will be at least one more hearing before any decision. Watch the Gaines Charter Township website for meeting agendas.
Demand specific resource-use data before any vote. Microsoft's representatives could not answer basic water questions at this hearing. Before the next session, submit written questions to the planning commission asking for verifiable, third-party water usage projections, electricity demand figures, and noise modeling — not developer self-assessments.
Contact State Rep. Angela Rigas. She has already engaged on water data and may be a legislative ally. Let her know community concerns extend beyond this single project to the broader regulatory framework Michigan uses for data center siting.
Community Takeaway
This is a textbook example of what happens when a tech company enters a community without sufficient upfront data. Microsoft is one of the most sophisticated data center operators in the world — it runs a model arrangement in Cheyenne, Wyoming with a large-load tariff and closed-loop cooling. The fact that its representatives couldn't answer basic resource questions in Gaines Township suggests the company wasn't prepared for the level of scrutiny communities are now bringing. Demand specific, verifiable resource-use numbers before any rezoning vote — not after.
Source: UWIRE, April 17, 2026.