Data center projects continue to generate controversy around the country. In part, that’s because a variety of different groups have competing interests – some in favor of them, some opposed and others with no direct view on data centers themselves, but with concerns that relate to aspects of data center operations and effects.

As a scholar of environmental justice and urban land use, I’ve seen these various conflicting forces at work in Michigan. More than 30 large and small data center projects have been proposed in the state in the past two years alone, including one by the university where I work.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is enthusiastic about bringing technology companies to the state, even posing with tech company CEOs in photo ops at the sites of proposed data centers.

But not everyone is as excited. In just one example of the opposition these projects can face, the local water company where I live, the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority, told the state it would not supply water for cooling a data center that the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory had proposed within its service area.

So the University of Michigan proposed a different site in the next town over, Superior Township. That town manages its own water but gets its supply by buying it from both the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority and Ann Arbor township.

A look at some of the forces at play around these projects reveals the deep issues they raise. The fights about data centers can often take the form of collisions between companies and community members. But they also reflect conflict about social values, democratic systems and capitalist interests.

Tech companies

Tech companies have an obvious desire to store and process ever more data. And many key aspects of society rely on the data centers that have been built over the decades, serving websites, handling online purchases and delivering emails, text messages and alert notices.

The latest push is related to the anticipated demand for artificial intelligence systems in the business world and in people’s lives – and the resulting increased demand for computing capacity to process all those requests and filter through all the available information to provide responses.

The corporate pressures to grow, to continue increasing profits for shareholders and to squeeze more revenue from workers and assets keep these tech companies seeking more land on which to build more data centers. And the Michigan Legislature has openly courted tech companies, passing laws that exempt data center operators from sales and use taxes they would otherwise have to pay.

Electricity companies

Many power companies are regulated by state or local governments and are not allowed to make profits off maintaining existing service or selling electricity. Their profits come from building new power plants, new transformers and substations, and new power lines – and passing those costs along to customers, with a markup for profit.

A data center can require significant investment in power generation and transmission – a data center proposed by Google in Van Buren Township, Michigan, for example, would require “2.7 gigawatts of electricity – a massive amount of power equivalent to the demand of about 2 million homes,” according to a local news report.

So a power company is likely to be eager to capitalize on the opportunity for a new major customer and may be willing to endure some amount of public backlash.

Power companies that operate in small geographic areas are highly dependent on the success of the municipalities from which they draw their customers and in which they build their infrastructure. In these situations, they have a vested interest in local economic growth, specifically the movement to the area of companies that supply jobs and, therefore, workers. This drives them to get involved in local political decision-making by lobbying for zoning changes to enable data centers.

Larger utility companies that operate regionally or across entire states are less tied to the economic success of a specific municipality within their service area. But they are also able to target their influence at state lawmakers. For example, DTE Energy assured state lawmakers that the proposed data center in Van Buren Township would not raise customers’ power rates.

Community leaders

Community leaders and elected officials are often interested in the jobs that tech companies promise will come with the data centers, so they tend to support approval of permits, zoning amendments or other legal changes.

Although data centers don’t really create very many jobs, they do have the potential to contribute to local property taxes, which can appeal to small towns without many other options.

Cities and towns are always on the hunt for growth opportunities, seeking additional tax revenue. That can lead them to feel pressure to build new roads, modify their land-use ordinances and approve requests from companies wishing to build within their boundaries.

My research has found that this pressure exists even in shrinking or small cities. This pressure has increased as cities have sought to reduce taxes on residents. The solution they see to getting fewer dollars out of existing residents is to bring in more businesses, more industry and more new residents. That makes them interested in welcoming data centers.

However, not every community leader is on board with data centers. Some oppose them but feel hamstrung or powerless to stop or slow their progress, as occurred in Ypsilanti Township and in nearby Saline Township as well.

Everyday people

In many communities, everyday people concerned with noise, land use, water use and power use oppose the data centers.

They are also concerned about the costs data centers may impose on utility ratepayers, taxpayers and those who must experience the environmental effects. People’s power, exercised through democratic processes such as public hearings, ordinance revisions and elections, can be overwhelmed by the tech companies and aligned groups.

But voters do have power. In June 2026, Utah voters unseated a longtime legislative leader, state Senate President Stuart Adams, who had helped get approval for a massive data center in the northwestern part of the state.

Whether a data center moves forward in a municipality ends up being a matter of how public officials sort through the motivations and sociopolitical power of all these players.

Lauren Mullenbach does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.