As some state officials continue to push for data centers to be built in Michigan, Ypsilanti Township has taken additional legislative action against them.
During a Pancakes and Politics forum April 8, 2026, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pushed back on public resistance.
"Data centers are going to be built," she said. "They're going to be built because we are all fueling the need for them every day with our devices ... I understand that there's a lot of concerns, and that people are saying, 'Well, we don't want to do them here.' If we don't do them here, they'll be done elsewhere, and they'll be done less smart, with lower wages, in a way that abuses the natural resources and jacks up energy prices."
At a special meeting held by the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees on April 15, 2026, a resolution was unanimously passed requesting a moratorium to be placed on the township's water and sewer resources in relation to data centers and high-powered computing facilities.
The Ypsilanti Charter Township Board of Trustees holds a special meeting on April 15, 2026 in the Tilden R. Stumbo Civic Center to vote on resolution 2026-08.
"I don't know anyone that supports data centers ... other than Gretchen Whitmer," Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo said during the meeting.
Resolution 2026-08 says that an artificially induced market demand for data centers has been fueled by tax incentives supported by Whitmer and the Michigan legislature in the past, such as the Enterprise Data Center Sales & Use Tax Exemptions that took effect last year. It also says that these tax exemptions have the effect of pressuring public utilities such as the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority to commit to water and sewer capacity without sufficient time to conduct needed reviews. Six analyses are proposed in the resolution as requirements for the moratorium to be lifted, including analysis of financial, infrastructural and environmental risks. The resolution requests that the YCUA refrain from lifting the moratorium for at least 12 months to allow proper time for the analyses to be conducted. YCUA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The resolution received vocal support from community members at the meeting, though some raised concerns. Rebecca Cook, a resident of the Ann Arbor area, said she was glad the resolution was being passed, but she questioned if the proposed timeline would be sufficient. Trustee Karen Lovejoy Roe later said that the moratorium could likely be extended at a later date, if needed.
Joanne Dula, an Ypsilanti Township resident who expressed support for the resolution, said that she believed Michigan officials' support of data centers was in service of corporate interests.
"I am horribly disappointed in Jocelyn Benson and Gretchen Whitmer," she told The Echo after the meeting. "I worked tirelessly to help them get elected, and for them to slap us in the face and do this is unimaginable."
A representative for Whitmer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ypsilanti resident and noise researcher Lauren Smith said she fully supported the resolution but believed that regulating noise pollution would be an important next step. Her concern was echoed by multiple people in attendance.
Township Attorney Douglas Winters said, "This resolution is just one of many that's going to be forthcoming ... but first and foremost, it's the water that has the higher priority, because YCUA is the organization that has the authority to issue the permits to these data centers."
Township Clerk Debbie Swanson later added that, "We aren't experts. So, like Trustee Lovejoy Roe said, what you know about sound matters to us, and ... we're working to try and hear you and to take action."
Residents and trustees alike raised additional concerns about the computing facility being proposed for a site on Textile Road by the University of Michigan, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and DTE. Swanson pointed to the recent power outages that came in the wake of severe storms in the area.
"When they [DTE] tell us, oh, we can handle everything; the grid is fine, sure. It'll be fine for the data centers that you're helping," Swanson said, "because they'll have their own substations and they'll have generators ... but what about the people?"
Ryan Lowry, a communications employee for DTE, said that DTE does have the simultaneous capacity for both Ypsilanti Township residents and the data centers that are being proposed for the county.
"The power would come from the transmission system, not the local community distribution network," he said. "This means reliability would not be impacted for local homes and businesses."
When asked about the concern raised at the meeting about noise pollution from DTE substations at future data centers, Lowry said that it was difficult to respond to that point.
"Substations are not considered noisy," he said. "Each person’s perspective may be different, and we want to be sensitive to that."
U-M Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Internal Communications Paul Corliss did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
