Detroit Evening Report: DTE faces protest over push for AI data center
This Detroit Evening Report covers concerns about DTE’s push for a data center, a disinformation recognition tool VERDAD designed for the Latino community, and the Robocop statue
DTE Headquarters in downtown Detroit.
State energy regulators heard from people last night who oppose a large data center project near Saline. The Michigan Public Service Commission held a virtual hearing on DTE Energy’s request to fast-track contracts with the project’s developers.
The data center would require DTE Energy to substantially increase its peak electrical load. The company says that won’t raise customer’s rate.
Cadillac resident Cody Gilbert spoke at the hearing. Gilbert is concerned about how the data center would affect that state’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2050.
“A project that uses thousands of gallons of water and tons of electricity, enough for thousands of home is not advancing that goal.”
Opponents say the facility would draw almost as much power as the city of Detroit.
Protestors rallied Wednesday in Beacon Park near DTE Headquarters.
Elijah Williams lives in Detroit but is originally from Mississippi.
He says he feels his home state and Michigan are attractive to data companies because they have access to the large amounts of water needed to cool a data center.
“The access to the Great Lakes… they’re definitely taking advantage of whatever God-given resource in order to just implement whatever quantum…. whatever new level of science and technology that they haven’t got consent from the people on if they even want it in the first place.”
Sarah Brabbs is from York Township, next to Saline. While she is not totally opposed to the data center, she says she isn’t a fan of DTE trying to keep the public out of the process.
“Putting rate payers in a situation that you know we will be paying for…probably on multiple levels…is disingenuous, dysfunctional…and unacceptable.”
DTE said the data center’s operators would pay for the energy they use, almost 1.5 gigawatts.
Additional headlines from Thursday, December 4, 2025
VERDAD tool
Wayne State’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights received a $350 thousand grant for its AI powered tool “VERDAD”, which stands for Verifying and Exposing Disinformation and Discourse.”
VERDAD founder and journalist Martina Guzman says the tool started monitoring ethnic radio stations for disinformation in Latino communities.
“The tool records 24 hours a day… And once it hears misinformation… And it hears it based on hundreds and hundreds of disinformation keywords that we’ve uploaded into its system… once it hears one of those words, it begins to really focus and it has an analysis component.”
Since VERDAD launched last year, more than 320 academics and journalists have registered to use the free tool. It will expand to all 50 states in multiple languages, including Arabic, Haitian Creole, and Vietnamese.
Robocop statue
A long awaited 11-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Robocop has finally taken its permanent place in Eastern Market. The statue is located at 3434 Russell St.
Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
