U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett introduced legislation Thursday to prohibit federal agencies from overriding local decision-making processes related to data centers.
The Protecting Local Control of Data Centers Act would also bar federal agencies from leveraging federal funds to force state and local governments to give up their authority.
“Families in my district are rightly concerned about the effect data centers could have on their utility bills, as well as the land and water in their neighborhood,” Barrett said in a statement. “They deserve to know all the facts and have the final say over any proposed project.”
Another bill, the No Data Center NDAs Act, would prohibit members of Congress from signing non-disclosure agreements covering information about data centers, including possible locations or how much water or energy a facility would use.
“People in mid-Michigan are tired of big corporations and politicians negotiating backroom deals, especially when it comes to data center projects that impact every community differently,” Barrett said.
The first-term Republican from Charlotte introduced the bills as data centers have become a key issue in one of the closest U.S. House races in the country, where Barrett is defending his seat against climate organizer William Lawrence.
A day before introducing the legislation, Barrett released a commercial saying “you should decide on data centers, not Washington.” During the Democratic primary, Lawrence filmed a commercial at the site of a proposed hyperscale data center.
Lawrence campaign manager Stevie O’Hanlon criticized Barrett for campaign contributions from tech executives and corporate PACs.
“After years cozying up to Silicon Valley billionaires, he now wants Michiganders to think he’s standing up to data centers,” O’Hanlon said in a statement. “But money doesn’t lie, and Barrett has taken hundreds of thousands from some of the biggest data center developers in the entire country.”
Lawrence, the co-founder of Sunrise Movement, has called for a federal moratorium on data center development until additional regulations are in place to protect ratepayers and the environment.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking to reporters in Lansing alongside Barrett earlier this week, called a moratorium on data center development a “dangerous prospect,” calling instead for a “measured approach.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright also touted the economic benefits of data center development during an appearance with Barrett earlier this year.
“When you pick and you tell people, ‘It will be here,’ of course you get a political reaction to that,” Wright said. “You need to sell the benefits to communities and say, ‘Who’s interested in that?’”
