Every week, WKAR's Andrew Roth breaks down some of the biggest stories happening in Mid-Michigan in his column What Roth's Watching. You can find his column in our newsletter The Signal, out every Sunday.
This week, he's keeping his eye on a data center rally outside the state capitol, push back on a transmission line project that would cut through an Ingham County park and Lansing Pride.
Here's his breakdown:
1. Data center rally
Michigan GOP Chair Jim Runestad and several Republican state lawmakers plan to hold a rally Tuesday at the Michigan Capitol calling for policies that address public concerns about data centers, including noise levels, environmental damage and impacts on utility rates. Democratic legislators rolled out a plan of their own last week that includes limits on water use, safeguards for consumers’ electric bills and prohibition of non-disclosure agreements.
2. Opposition to transmission lines
Ingham County Commissioners plan to consider a resolution opposing a transmission line project that would cut through a park in Holt. The 50-mile-long project would run north of Fowlerville to south of Grand Ledge. The company developing the project, ITC, says it would lower costs and increase reliability of the region’s power supply. The Ingham County Board’s motion will be largely symbolic, as the Michigan Public Service Commission will decide whether to approve the project.
3. Lansing Pride returns
Thousands are expected in Old Town Lansing this weekend for the annual Lansing Pride festival. This year’s theme is “Love Out Loud.” Saturday’s event will include a full day of live entertainment, family-friendly activities and more than 300 local vendors. Drag queen Trinity the Tuck, season four winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, will make an appearance.
What Roth's Watching can be found every Sunday in our weekly newsletter The Signal. Sign up here.
Interview Transcript:
Melorie Begay: This week in Mid-Michigan, community members are planning to hold a protest calling on lawmakers to address data center concerns. In Ingham County, commissioners will discuss an ordinance opposing a transmission line project that would cut through parts of the county, and Lansing's annual Pride event kicks off this weekend. These are some of the biggest stories happening this week, and WKAR’s Andrew Roth is here to break it all down. Andrew writes a column in our weekly newsletter, The Signal. Thanks for being here, Andrew.
Andrew Roth: Thanks for having me.
Begay: All right, so data centers are back in the news this week, but this time the story is not about a new proposal. Instead, it's about calls for legislators to add protections against data centers, and it's being led by a Republican state lawmaker, Andrew. What do we know about this protest.
Roth: Yeah, that's right. So, a group of state senators and representatives, all of them Republicans, plan to hold a rally at the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday, calling for policies that they say would address some of the public concerns about data centers that we've seen pop up in different communities, including things like noise levels, potential environmental damage and impacts on utility rates.
Begay: And as you mentioned, this rally is being led by Republican legislators. What about Democrats? What have they said, or what are they doing about data centers?
Roth: Yeah, so that's one of the interesting things about this debate, as we've seen it come up in different communities, is that opposition to data centers, or at least concerns about data centers, kind of transcend party lines, and we've seen some similar concerns from both more conservative residents and more liberal residents. So Democratic legislators actually rolled out a plan of their own last week that they say includes limits on water use safeguards for consumers' electric bills and would prohibit non-disclosure agreements. So, it'll be interesting to see if the two parties can kind of bridge their divide and find some consensus on this.
Begay: And speaking about pushback toward new developments in communities, Ingham County commissioners will discuss a resolution that would oppose a project that would bring new power lines to some Ingham County communities. What is this project, Andrew?
Roth: Yeah, so a company that develops power grids in Michigan is trying to route 50 miles of new power lines from north of Fowlerville to south of Grand Ledge, and they say that this would lower costs and increase reliability of the region's power supply, but it is facing some pushback because some of these power lines would go through a park in Holt, and so Ingham County commissioners are planning to consider a resolution opposing the project. But that move would be largely symbolic, as the Michigan Public Service Commission is going to have the final say on whether to approve the project.
Begay: This project has already had to reroute its plans, right?
Roth: Yeah, so there's been a few different draft routes for this project, and one of them previously went through Meridian Township, but that specific route was dropped after the Meridian Township Board unanimously passed a resolution to oppose the construction,
Begay: And lastly, Pride kicks off Friday. It's one of Mid Michigan's largest LGBTQ plus events. What can you tell us about this year's event?
Roth: Yeah, so the theme for this year's event in Old Town is Love Out loud, and this year's event is going to include an appearance by the drag queen Trinity The Tuck, who actually won season four of Ru Paul's Drag Race All Stars. And other than that, as you mentioned, it's one of the biggest events in the region, so you know there's more than 300 local vendors who participate, and there's a full day of live entertainment, all kinds of different activities in Old Town.
Begay: All right, thanks for the preview. Andrew. Andrew Roth is a reporter with WKAR. Thanks for being here, Andrew.
Roth: Thanks for having me.
Begay: And you can read Andrew's weekly roundup, what Roth's watching, on our newsletter, The Signal. It's out every Sunday. You can sign up at wkar.org
