WKAR News is diving deep on data centers this week as multiple proposed projects across the state face public pushback.
Michigan State University professor Doug Bessette’s research focuses on finding the reasons why communities support or oppose renewable energy developments, and that work may lend itself to understanding the reaction to these data center projects.
He says a mistake developers and municipal leaders often make is grouping opposition to developments under "Not In My Backyard" or NIMBY stances.
"A a colleague of mine and I have a saying, which is, 'as soon as somebody blames the problems of wind and solar development on NIMBYism, it means they don't understand the problem.''
He calls NIMBYism a symptom of a bigger, often underdiscussed problem.
"We don't actually have an honest conversation about the true costs and the true benefits that come along with these projects," he said.
For example, economic benefits and tax revenue which are touted by city or township officials might not directly appeal to residents, and those same leaders might not see a data center or solar project as a major change to a community's identity.
Bessette says it's important to engage early and often with residents about potential projects, or even get them involved before a proposal is made to understand what would be acceptable or not in the future.
"There's a lot of concerns in these communities that even if there is an engagement process, it's not sincere," he explained.
He says what often happens instead is what he calls, "misengagement."
"Misengagement kind of stands in for or replaces more meaningful engagement. It's not transparent, it's not effective, and it's certainly not inclusive. It's really just got one objective in mind, and that is to approve a permit."
Having a third-party group running these events or input sessions is a way to insert a neutral party into the conversation and prevent this kind of "misengagement."
But Bessette says data center projects may face a bigger uphill battle to win approval than solar or wind developments.
"Data centers, it tends to be pretty much bipartisan opposition. It doesn't matter who you are, you're probably opposed to your local data center project," he said.
"A lot of times, communities feel that the economic benefits that come along with those data centers might just be a slippery slope to additional development."
On the other hand, he says a community should keep in mind what they're losing out on if they successfully push out a project.
Interview Transcript
On NIMBYism
We often think of NIMBYism as a cause of the problem with respect to renewable development, but really it's a symptom of the problem, which is that we don't actually have an honest conversation about the true costs and the true benefits that come along with these projects. Instead, we just see rural community members as uneducated or irrational or folks that are simply acting selfishly, and so instead of engaging them, we just simply see them as people that need to be overcome in this process or as a roadblock that needs to be overcome.
On differences between data centers and renewable energy projects
There are also a lot of concerns with respect to energy. So, even if you're opposed to a solar energy project that you recognize that that solar project produces energy, and data centers don't produce energy. Of course, they consume energy, quite a bit of energy, and they also require a lot of water. They generate a lot of heat, and so you need a lot of water to cool them. So whereas, you could argue that solar projects are environmentally benign, data centers just simply aren't. They have true environmental impacts, and from that perspective, they're never going to be truly sustainable.
On how municipalities can win support from their residents for these projects
I think really it's meaningfully engaging the community. And what I mean by that is initiating a process that would be facilitated by a third party or an organization or an individual that doesn't have a conflict of interest. So, oftentimes we will see an engagement process that is run by the developer and that rarely goes well. There are other instances in which engagement might be led by a local organized opposition group that also doesn't tend to go well. I would also argue that engaging early and often is really important.
Interview Highlights
Sophia Saliby: This week, WKAR is diving deep on data centers as multiple proposed projects across the state face public pushback.
Michigan State University professor Doug Bessette’s research focuses on finding the reasons why communities support or oppose renewable energy developments, and that work may lend itself to understanding the reaction to these data center projects.
He’s here with me now. Thank you for joining us.
Doug Bessette: Happy to be here.
Sophia Saliby: Let's start with a big question. Where does opposition to these projects, whether it's solar, wind, data, where do they come from?
Bessette: Yeah, so large-scale renewable energy faces a great deal of opposition from community members in this state. Particularly with respect to solar, folks are really concerned about the impacts that it has to the rural and the agricultural economy. Oftentimes, tenant farmers, or folks that rent land, often see solar as a threat because solar developers can often pay much more than they can for access to land. So, there's a threat to just continued agricultural production.
There's a lot of concerns that maybe the local grain elevator or an agricultural supplement distributor might also be affected by solar. So, there's a lot of concerns, economic concerns that come along with solar. There's also just impacts to the rural aesthetics and the viewshed. Certainly, these projects are quite large. They can take hundreds or even thousands of acres. They change the look and the feel of communities, especially if a substation is necessary to be built. That's a significant impact to the viewshed.
These projects also have a pretty significant impact to just rural and farming identities. Oftentimes, these are people that have been argued to be the backbone of America, and now they're seen as a problem or even a threat to our continued existence.
These projects also have a pretty significant impact to just rural and farming identities. Oftentimes, these are people that have been argued to be the backbone of America, and now they're seen as a problem or even a threat to our continued existence, you know, if we continue to emit greenhouse gas emissions. And so, they can react negatively to renewable project proposals.
Also, it's important to keep in mind that these are rural communities. They are often quite conservative, and so they likely didn't vote for the folks that are now promoting renewable development in their community, and they often feel disconnected from that process, and they often feel without a voice.
Saliby: Can you break down why lumping opposition to these developments under NIMBYism or "Not In My Backyard" stances might not be a good idea?
Bessette: Sure. So, a colleague of mine and I have a saying, which is, "As soon as somebody blames the problems of wind and solar development on NIMBYism, it means they don't understand the problem."
We often think of NIMBYism as a cause of the problem with respect to renewable development, but really it's a symptom of the problem, which is that we don't actually have an honest conversation about the true costs and the true benefits that come along with these projects.
Instead, we just see rural community members as uneducated or irrational or folks that are simply acting selfishly, and so instead of engaging them, we just simply see them as people that need to be overcome in this process or as a roadblock that needs to be overcome.
Saliby: So, what are the differences between winning support for solar and wind projects and then data centers? We talked previously, and you mentioned that there's partisanship or a lack of partisanship in kind of these two different types of projects.
Bessette: So, I think one of the things that has been maybe refreshing is a lot of the opposition to solar has come from the right or rural conservative folks or folks that voted Republican in the last election. Whereas data centers, it tends to be pretty much bipartisan opposition. It doesn't matter who you are, you're probably opposed to your local data center project.
But there is a difference between the two, and I think, you know, there are benefits to solar that don't come along with data centers. So, solar is large, it takes up a lot of land, and that, you know, that often generates opposition, but it also means that there might be more landowners involved in the project. More landowners means more payments, so a greater impact on the local economy. Solar is also a temporary land use. So, the argument is that once a solar project has been in place for 20 or 25 years, you could decommission it or remove it, and that land could go back to farming.
But that's not the case with data centers. So, data centers typically only have one landowner, and that landowner likely receives quite a bit of money for that property. They might become extremely wealthy, and likely because so many people are upset with them, they might decide to skip town. And so, you're not getting that reinvestment of landowner payments back in the community.
Additionally, data centers aren't temporary, right? You're not going to remove a data center and return that land to farming. That data center is likely going to be there essentially forever, and so it's a permanent land use. There are also a lot of concerns with respect to energy. So, even if you're opposed to a solar energy project that you recognize that that solar project produces energy, and data centers don't produce energy. Of course, they consume energy, quite a bit of energy, and they also require a lot of water. They generate a lot of heat, and so you need a lot of water to cool them.
So whereas, you could argue that solar projects are environmentally benign, data centers just simply aren't. They have true environmental impacts, and from that perspective, they're never going to be truly sustainable.
Saliby: So, what are people looking for from developers or even city leaders when a company comes to their community that wants to build any of these types of projects?
A lot of times, community members don't find out about these projects until it's too late, and at that point, their concerns, even if they do have an opportunity to voice them, just simply aren't addressed, and oftentimes they're not acknowledged.
Bessette: Yeah. So unfortunately, a lot of times, community members don't find out about these projects until it's too late, and at that point, their concerns, even if they do have an opportunity to voice them, just simply aren't addressed, and oftentimes they're not acknowledged.
Particularly with respect to data centers, we've seen instances where a planning commission or a township board or a county board will decide not to approve a permit for a data center, and then they're sued. So this happened in Saline, where the community eventually decided that they did not want to permit the data center, and they were immediately sued by the developer, and because they didn't have the money or the power to fight back, you know, they gave in. And so, there's a lot of concerns in these communities that even if there is an engagement process, it's not sincere.
I actually wrote a paper recently, and I termed it "misengagement," and the reason I did that is because I think we tend to think of engagement in one way, but similar to misinformation, misengagement kind of stands in for or replaces more meaningful engagement. It's not transparent, it's not effective, and it's certainly not inclusive. It's really just got one objective in mind, and that is to approve a permit.
Saliby: So, if I'm a city leader, a slam dunk project comes my way, that seems like it's going to do a lot economically for my community. What would be the advice you would give them and or give me in this situation?
Bessette: I think really it's meaningfully engaging the community. And what I mean by that is initiating a process that would be facilitated by a third party or an organization or an individual that doesn't have a conflict of interest. So, oftentimes we will see an engagement process that is run by the developer and that rarely goes well. There are other instances in which engagement might be led by a local organized opposition group that also doesn't tend to go well.
I think communities, they're smart, they recognize that they don't really have any influence or control over that project, and this is just an opportunity provided for them to yell or scream or or maybe even cry, but at the end of the day, they're not affecting the process.
I would also argue that engaging early and often is really important. We've seen some proposals lately in which people didn't find out about the project until the planning commission or the township board or the city board was about to vote. And even if there is an opportunity to get up in a question and answer period and voice your concerns or maybe your anger about that process, I think communities, they're smart, they recognize that they don't really have any influence or control over that project, and this is just an opportunity provided for them to yell or scream or or maybe even cry, but at the end of the day, they're not affecting the process.
And there are better ways to do this, so you can actually run processes. So, we initiated a process a year or two ago called community-centered solar development, and there's no reason that you couldn't also apply it to data center development. And the intent there with that process was to help communities identify what their long-term objectives are and what their values are, and then have them consider where solar or even data centers align with those objectives, so they can engage in a meaningful, transparent conversation about what the costs and the benefits of that project are.
I think it's important for communities to recognize that there are trade-offs to not approving a project even if community members are concerned about the environmental impacts or the social impacts of a project, a lot of these projects do bring economic benefits. There might be tax revenues. There might be additional infrastructure that comes along with them. There might be new roads. There could be new buildings, any number of financial incentives that come along with these projects.
I think one of the things to keep in mind, though, is that particularly when it comes to data centers, a lot of times, communities feel that the economic benefits that come along with those data centers might just be a slippery slope to additional development. A lot of communities are happy that there is not any large-scale infrastructure in their community, and there are concerns that if a data center were to be built in a community, and that data center were to provide additional tax revenue that might lead to roads or might lead to additional infrastructure, that might lead to additional data centers or even solar projects or maybe new transmission lines or a new substation. And so, I think communities don't necessarily see tax revenue positively.
Saliby: Doug Bessette is a Michigan State University professor. Thank you for joining us.
Bessette: Thank you.
