Andrews, colleagues announce data center protection bills
State Representative Joey Andrews has announced a new legislative package in Michigan aimed at regulating data centers. The bills address worker and environmental protection, water usage, energy costs, community benefits, and decommissioning funds. Andrews believes this package represents some of the strongest guardrails for data centers in the nation.
State Representative Joey Andrews, joined by several colleagues, unveiled a new legislative package in Michigan designed to establish robust guardrails for data center development across the state. The proposed bills stem from extensive discussions with Michigan residents regarding concerns about the increasing number of data center projects.
The legislation addresses several key areas, including requirements for data centers to use closed-loop water systems and to submit engineering and sound study reports as part of the approval process. It also mandates community benefits packages for large data centers. Representative Andrews' specific bill focuses on energy usage, ensuring that data center-related infrastructure costs cannot be passed on to residents and that facilities maintain a minimum payment threshold for their estimated electric use.
Additionally, another bill in the package proposes requiring data centers to maintain decommissioning funds, mirroring existing regulations for power plants. This measure aims to ensure funds are available for site remediation if a data center becomes obsolete or falls into disuse. Andrews emphasized that lawmakers are responding to growing public concerns that have emerged since the state approved tax incentives for data center projects.