Push back against data center expansion in rural Southwest Michigan

A data center company has big expansion plans here in Southwest Michigan. Hyperscale Data, an artificial intelligence and bitcoin company, says it's reached an agreement to more than double its campus, saying the need for AI is exploding. In a press release this week, it announced plans to support cloud computing with an expansion of more than 48 acres of land. While Hyperscale doesn't list any specific location on its website, it's known to operate at a business center in Dowagiac. City Manager Kevin Anderson says that release was the first the city heard about it. "We saw the press release like you did, that said they are looking to buy some additional property and hoping to close on some in the next 60 days," he said. "We haven't had any contact with them about that." Hyperscale announced last summer its intention to expand from a 30-megawatt to a 340-megawatt site, the power equivalent of tens of thousands of homes. Anderson says the company doesn't use the city's electric utility, and that the city hasn't received any development proposals. "After somebody closes, forms get filed with the city so that we can send the tax and utility bills to the appropriate place," he explained. "So, it would be very rare that we would hear something like this in advance." News Channel 3 called Hyperscale on Tuesday and were told by an automated line that someone would follow up. Residents living near the Dowagiac facility say they've reached out to the company, too, but have never been able to get answers. Terry Raab says the noise has made him unable to open his windows in the summer and is worried about what it will do to his property value. "If we want to resell the house, who's going to want to buy the house with that noise?" he said. "No one's going to want to buy." Longtime resident Jerry Dodd wishes the company would put up a sound-reducing wall, saying he's never heard the site this loud. "People get out of their cars and they say, 'do you have to listen to that? All the time?'" he said. "And it's 24 hours a day. It doesn't stop." In response to concerns like these, last week Dowagiac's city council amended its noise ordinance. It sets separate maximum decibel levels for businesses near homes during the day and night. Dodd just wants more communication before such a major expansion breaks ground. "If we could get answers from electric company or the city or the water people and get some actual facts, everybody comes to talk about it, but nobody says anything," he said. The City of Dowagiac is also looking into changing its zoning, sewer, and water ordinances. https://wwmt.com/news/local/ai-data-center-expansion-dowagiac-loud-noise-complaints-residents-southwest-michigan-hyperscale-megawatt-bitcoin-wwmt _______________ Stay up to date with our social media: WWMT on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwmtnews WWMT on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wwmtnews Subscribe to WWMT on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAYwomlsmN0DsPeeumEKFXg/?sub_confirmation=1 WWMT Daily News Digest: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-oNVYSgKM8IBYJOY5M-p37vKcILekLNz For more information, visit https://www.wwmt.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: desk@wwmt.com Call the Newsroom: 800.875.3333 WWMT is a MI based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. #WWMT #NEWSCHANNEL3 #Kalamazoo #Michigan #datacenter #ColinRoose