A month ago, a data center company pulled out of a plan to build a facility in downtown Lansing after months of back and forth with community members and city officials.
When the company Deep Green first revealed its plans, WKAR News talked to Michigan State University professor Doug Bessette about his research into winning public approval for renewable energy projects and how those tactics may or may not work for data centers.
He says the main change in the national conversation around the facilities in the past six months is that people have become more aware of them.
"The more people have learned about data centers, hyperscale data centers in particular, the more they don't like them, and the more that they are concerned about their impacts to home energy costs and the local environment and water use, and particularly electricity costs," he said.
He says while Deep Green was going to build a relatively small facility in Lansing, that distinction largely didn't matter to residents.
"I think [Deep Green] got caught up in the growing opposition to data centers, and I think, at this point, there's not a lot of nuance in the discussion or the debate," Bessette said.
In November, Bessette emphasized the importance of transparency when it comes to winning public approval of these types of large infrastructure projects. He says changing details around the Lansing proposal might have also created mistrust even if the intention wasn't to obfuscate.
"The changing of the location of the project, the change with respect to how the project would be powered, you know, that might just be the reality of the of the project, on the ground that as you develop it, as you come to know more about it, you've learned that certain things need to be changed, but to the residents, to the community, that's not how it appeared."
In an April 28 statement to WKAR, Deep Green CEO Mark Green shared this message regarding an interview request about the company's future in Michigan and the Greater Lansing area:
"It is entirely normal for infrastructure that — as situations and circumstances change —developers and operators adapt. For Deep Green, this means that some sites are built, and others cannot be. We intend to continue to work with our partners, including BWL, to design, build and operate data centers that become environmental and community assets in our target markets, including Michigan.”
Bessette says personally, the focus on data centers has completely altered his professional life.
"Frankly, the national conversation has shifted away from renewables, and I think that is because people are so concerned about the rapid development, or at least the significant number of proposals to build these hyperscale data centers, I think people are far more concerned about data centers' impacts than they are renewables," Bessette said.
He says he plans to pursue research to figure out the parallels between the development of solar projects and data centers.
Interview Highlights
On changing perceptions of data centers
There's actually research to support this, that the more people have learned about data centers, hyperscale data centers in particular, the more they don't like them, and the more that they are concerned about their impacts to home energy costs and the local environment and water use, and particularly electricity costs.
On transparency with the Deep Green project
It's not clear that whether or not the details about the project were changing in real time, or if they had just taken some time to explain to residents. So, the changing of the location of the project, the change with respect to how the project would be powered, you know, that might just be the reality of the of the project, on the ground that as you develop it, as you come to know more about it, you've learned that certain things need to be changed, but to the residents, to the community, that's not how it appeared. It appeared that there were secrets being kept, and that the details were being unveiled only as it was necessary, as they were being called on, to do that, and I think that led to mistrust amongst the community, even though it may not necessarily have been warranted.
On how his work is changing
Frankly, the national conversation has shifted away from renewables, and I think that is because people are so concerned about the rapid development, or at least the significant number of proposals to build these hyperscale data centers, I think people are far more concerned about data centers' impacts than they are renewables, which, frankly, I agree with, and I'm happy to see. And so, a lot of the research that we've been doing, we are trying to figure out the parallels, or what's complementary, between solar and and data centers.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: A month ago, a data center company pulled out of a plan to build a facility in downtown Lansing after months of back and forth with community members and city officials.
When the company Deep Green first revealed its plans, we talked to Michigan State University professor Doug Bessette about his research into winning public approval for renewable energy projects and how those tactics may or may not work for data centers.
He joins me now to talk about what happened in Lansing and how the conversation around data centers has changed since we last spoke. Thanks for being here, Doug.
Doug Bessette: Happy to be here.
Saliby: To start, what have you noticed changing when it comes to the national conversation around data centers?
Bessette: I would say, and there's actually research to support this, that the more people have learned about data centers, hyperscale data centers in particular, the more they don't like them, and the more that they are concerned about their impacts to home energy costs and the local environment and water use, and particularly electricity costs.
Saliby: This Deep Green facility wouldn't be hyperscale, but do you think the company could have done something different to win support of this project?
Bessette: Well, I think they got caught up in the growing opposition to data centers, and I think at this point, there's not a lot of nuance in the discussion or the debate over data centers.
And I think even though the Deep Green project was not hyperscale, not even close to being hyperscale, I think a lot of the impacts that come along with all data centers were still relevant. And I think community members were concerned about the impacts to local water consumption and the fossil fuel power generation that would be required to operate the project, and what that would do for electricity costs and water costs in the city.
And so, even if those impacts aren't as significant as what would accompany a hyperscale project, there's still a concern, and you could see that with how many local residents came out to, you know, voice their concern over the project.
Saliby: When we last talked, you emphasized the importance of municipalities being engaging and transparent with these projects. As someone who studies this, as a local, did you see transparency in this process?
Bessette: It's not clear that whether or not the details about the project were changing in real time, or if they had just taken some time to explain to residents. So, the changing of the location of the project, the change with respect to how the project would be powered, you know, that might just be the reality of the project, on the ground that as you develop it, as you come to know more about it, you've learned that certain things need to be changed, but to the residents, to the community, that's not how it appeared.
It appeared that there were secrets being kept, and that the details were being unveiled only as it was necessary, as they were being called on to do that, and I think that led to mistrust amongst the community, even though it may not necessarily have been warranted.
Saliby: We have a statement from the company that says they're still interested in working with the Lansing Board of Water and Light and other partners, which means other potential locations it might be looking into might be relatively local.
Is it common for a company to look metaphorically next door when they kind of fail in one place?
Bessette: I am not familiar with any situation in which a developer, either of renewable energy or of a data center that tried to propose a project and it failed in a municipality, would try to propose it for another place in that municipality. I've never seen that happen.
What I suspect is that's just, you know, what a company says to be polite as they leave the community, you know.
Saliby: How has your work changed at all in these last six months?
Bessette: A lot. A lot. I mean, I would say, up until six months ago, I primarily, if not exclusively, studied the permitting and siting of solar and renewable energy, and I have had so many requests to talk about data centers.
And frankly, the national conversation has shifted away from renewables, and I think that is because people are so concerned about the rapid development, or at least the significant number of proposals to build these hyperscale data centers, I think people are far more concerned about data centers' impacts than they are renewables, which, frankly, I agree with, and I'm happy to see.
And so, a lot of the research that we've been doing, we are trying to figure out the parallels, or what's complementary, between solar and and data centers. So, I think a lot of my work going forward is going to be focused on data centers.
Saliby: Doug Bessette is an MSU professor. Thank you for joining us.
Bessette: Thanks so much.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
