Township Fights Nuclear Weapons Data Center By Passing a Moratorium on Electrical Infrastructure
The six month moratorium on major electrical infrastructure projects is the latest tactic meant to delay the massive data center meant to support America’s nuclear weapons.
Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, has enacted a six-month moratorium on the construction of major electric utility infrastructure, targeting a $1.2 billion data center project backed by the University of Michigan and the Pentagon's Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL). The University of Michigan announced the partnership with LANL in 2021, and residents have been protesting the project ever since.
The township's board unanimously approved a resolution to delay the construction of new electrical infrastructure for 180 days, aiming to study noise pollution and the potential impact on existing customers.
The moratorium focuses specifically on the nature and scale of electrical infrastructure necessary to support high-energy-demand land uses, including hyperscale data centers, mid-sized data centers, AI computing facilities, and high-performance computational centers. The University of Michigan announced its selection of a 144-acre plot on Textile Road for the data center, claiming it would not pose a "high value target risk" in a war, nor store hazardous nuclear material or be used for weapons production.
However, Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo criticized the site selection as a "travesty of justice" due to its disregard for community concerns about environmental impact. During the moratorium vote, the Board displayed a large photograph of an electric substation, highlighting the size of the infrastructure and questioning the University's transparency. Township Board members have consistently criticized the University for its lack of communication and respect.
This data center fight is unique in that Ypsilanti Township's board of local leaders is united with the community in opposition to the project. In April, the Board extended a 365-day moratorium on delivering water to data centers, leading the University to threaten legal action, which they deemed "discriminatory." The University of Michigan declined to comment on this story.
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