Public Service Commission considers skipping public hearings, rushing approval of 575-acre data center opposed by Saline community

Via The Mid­west­ern­er:

Just weeks after forc­ing its way into Saline Town­ship against local objec­tions, a mas­sive data cen­ter pro­mot­ed by Gov. Gretchen Whit­mer is seek­ing to bypass pub­lic meet­ings to expe­dite reg­u­la­to­ry approvals.

The project, which the gov­er­nor described as “the largest one-time invest­ment in state his­to­ry,” involves Relat­ed Dig­i­tal, tied to bil­lion­aire megadonor Stephen Ross, DTE Ener­gy, tech com­pa­nies Ora­cle and Ope­nAI, and approx­i­mate­ly 575 acres of prime farm­land in the agri­cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ty of 2,200 res­i­dents.

Fol­low­ing a law­suit and legal set­tle­ment last month that allowed the project to pro­ceed, DTE and Relat­ed Dig­i­tal are now request­ing that the three-mem­ber Whit­mer-appoint­ed Michi­gan Pub­lic Ser­vice Com­mis­sion approve the project with­out pub­lic hear­ings by Decem­ber 5, accord­ing to The Detroit News.

Read the full sto­ry here.