Protesters oppose University of Michigan computing center in Ypsilanti Township
Ypsilanti Township residents, officials and labor representatives protested the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s planned $1.25 billion, 100-megawatt computing facility. Critics cite environmental justice, electricity costs, limited local benefits and the university’s exemption from local zoning and property taxes, while township officials have authorized legal efforts to stop the project and enacted moratoriums affecting related infrastructure and water supplies.
University of Michigan Regent Paul Brown joined residents and other opponents at a protest against the university’s planned $1.25 billion high-performance computing facility in Ypsilanti Township. The proposed 100-megawatt center, being developed with Los Alamos National Laboratory, would be built on sites along the Huron River and Textile Road, with construction potentially beginning in late 2027.
Opponents, including township officials, labor leaders and community activists, argue that the project would burden a lower-income community and communities of color with electricity costs, environmental impacts and public-service expenses while providing few long-term local jobs. The university says the facility will support research and national security, will not draw from or discharge into the Huron River, and will use solar agreements to address its purchased electricity emissions.
The Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees has passed resolutions opposing the project and authorized its attorney to pursue all available legal means to block it. The township also approved a six-month moratorium on new major electric infrastructure, following a 12-month water-supply moratorium adopted by the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority for resource-intensive facilities. State Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr. has introduced legislation to rescind a $100 million state grant, while U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell has called for a pause and the University of Michigan Board of Regents retains authority over whether to proceed.