Michigan is emerging as a Midwest AI data center hotspot, with at least 16 sites in play across 10 counties, driven by new state tax breaks and hyperscale AI demand.
The OpenAI/Oracle “Stargate” build in Saline Township is the anchor signal: 1.4 GW of load on DTE alone, on a 250-acre site, with construction targeted for 2026.
Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet-backed Verrus, Deep Green, and at least one unnamed top-10 U.S. company are circling large greenfield and brownfield parcels, but many projects are stalled or contested over rezoning, power, and local impacts.
Several proposed sites, including Meta’s Howell project and Franklin Partners’ Pavilion Township plan, show how quickly community pushback and moratoria can derail or delay hyperscale-oriented builds.
Grid implications are huge: multiple single-campus loads in the 100 MW to 1+ GW range will require major utility investment, regulatory fast-tracking, and tighter coordination with local governments.
Michigan is also experimenting with alternative models, like Deep Green’s 24 MW Lansing site that recycles waste heat, and a $1.2 billion UM/Los Alamos HPC facility that blurs the line between research and commercial AI infrastructure.
The article is worth a full read for the specific site map, utility posture, and local political dynamics shaping where AI-ready capacity can realistically land in the state.
Source: At least 16 sites eyed for data centers in Michigan amid AI boom. Here’s where – mlive.com
