The Metro: The people of Saline vs. Big Tech
State Rep. Morgan Foreman on how her constituents became bystanders to a $16 billion dollar data center, and what’s at stake for other Michiganders.
Interior of a data center.
One of the largest data center projects in the country is happening in Michigan, in the small farming community of Saline Township. Southwest of Ann Arbor, Saline Township is home to roughly 2,300 people.
Many of those residents did not want a data center. Their board voted against it, and their neighbors packed the meeting hall. Then the lawsuit came.
The companies are Oracle and OpenAI. Together, they are worth more than a trillion dollars. The township said it could not justify the fight, so it settled, and construction began.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer calls it the largest single investment in Michigan history.
It will use more electricity than an average nuclear reactor produces.
State lawmaker Morgan Foreman represents the district where it is being built. She says her constituents were not partners in this project; they were bystanders to it. She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how a small community of farmers and small-business owners ended up hosting one of the most consequential pieces of AI infrastructure in the country.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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