The University of Michigan is facing fierce blowback over environmental concerns and electricity costs for building a massive $1.6 billion data center in Ypsilanti.
“I have learned as Supervisor they [University of Michigan] are not to be trusted and do not do what is best for community, the people or environment,” Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Strumbo wrote in an email to a concerned resident cited by Planet Detroit. “They do what is best for them and their money grabbing purchase of land should scare the hell out of all elected officials in the State.”
UM is exempt from local government approvals and not required to pay taxes, but received $100 million in taxpayer funds from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan Economic Development Corporation in December.
“The facility will house two computing centers,” according to an MEDC overview. “One will be for federally funded research related to national security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, energy security solutions, and more, led by Los Alamos National Laboratory. The other, smaller center will be used for research and development by university faculty and students and other collaborating universities.”
In June, UM regents approved the purchase of two parcels of land totaling almost 125 acres in Ypsilanti Township for more than $8 million that’s “strategically located” along Textile Road near Ford Lake, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
