Meta is behind proposed Howell Twp. data center, trustee says

HOWELL TWP., Mich. (WILX) - Tech giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is behind the proposed data center in Howell Township, according to a trustee for the township.

Trustee Bob Wilson confirmed to News 10 Friday that Meta is the company looking to bring a $1 billion facility to the township. The data center would be situated on about 1,000 acres of farmland, powering artificial intelligence and cloud computing technology.

The development team behind the proposal has been quiet about which company is looking to bring the data center to the area, but Wilson has been open about it in recent days, telling other local news outlets that he was the one who leaked the fact it is Meta.

“I’m the one who leaked the fact that it’s Meta, because I don’t believe it should be hidden from people,” Wilson told MLive.

Residents have been voicing concerns over the proposal for months. On Thursday night, those residents got a victory as the board voted unanimously to approve a six-month moratorium on all actions involving the proposed development.

The vote to put a pause on the establishing, permitting, approval, and installation of any data center in the township came a day after the proposed project hit another roadblock. On Wednesday the Livingston County Planning Commission voted against rezoning the farmland to make room for the proposed data center.

During Thursday’s board meeting — which was moved from the Howell Township Hall to the much larger Howell High School auditorium to accommodate hundreds of people — residents loudly voiced their concerns. Some complained about transparency from the company building the data center and from the board members themselves. Others spoke out against the harm data centers can cause to the nearby environment and living space.

The battle over the Howell Twp. data center proposal is far from the only one brewing in Michigan. Attorney General Dana Nessel has pushed for the Michigan Public Service Commission to hold a public hearing regarding the data center in Saline Township, which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has called the “largest investment in Michigan history.” A virtual hearing surrounding DTE Energy’s efforts to “fast track” approval is scheduled for Dec. 3.

Earlier this month officials unveiled plans for a data center in Downtown Lansing, with UK-based Deep Green, leading the efforts. The Lansing Board of Water & Light says the 24-megawatt data center would generate free heat to be used by the BWL’s steam and future hot water utility. BWL says they have enough energy for the facility’s initial operations.

That project is also being met by opposition from residents, with the League of Women Voters and other community members calling for more transparency.

Meanwhile in Northern Michigan, plans for a data center in Kalkaska County have been scrapped after residents pushed back.

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