A hyperscale data center planned for Western Wayne County now officially has a known backer: Google.
Some details about the data center proposed in Van Buren Township have been floating around for weeks. But the company pushing for it remained a mystery until Google put speculation to rest this week.
The data center that’s been dubbed “Project Cannoli” will require so much power, it’s difficult to grasp. That quantity is one gigawatt — as much as DTE Energy’s Fermi nuclear power plant produces, or an average major city consumes.
But Google said that it will supply all the power needed, plus more.
“Google’s data center operations will be served by 2.7 gigawatts of new resources for the grid, including solar power, advanced storage technologies and demand flexibility,” Will Conkling, Google’s director of clean energy and power for the Americas, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “This Clean Capacity Acceleration Agreement with DTE (the same structure as the Clean Transition Tariff) will bring new, clean resources online, while supporting the state’s transition away from coal-fired power.
“As part of our standard approach to building new data centers, Google will fully cover its electricity costs and infrastructure needs, helping to ensure that its growth protects local ratepayers and actively bolsters the long-term resilience of the state’s electricity grid.”
The 2.7 gigawatts Google proposes to supply represents around one-quarter of DTE’s total current grid capacity.
Google has also now filed detailed initial regulatory paperwork with DTE. Utility officials said the project will go through the usual vetting process known as a contested case — allowing independent experts and the public to examine plans and comment on them — before the whole project goes to the Michigan Public Service Commission for final approval.
DTE said that entire process should take about six months. It's a process the utility sought to bypass when it won conditional approval for a data center power plan in Saline Township last year.
“The [energy] contracts are designed to meet Google’s energy needs while protecting DTE’s existing customers — maintaining reliability, advancing clean energy development and ensuring long-term affordability benefits to customers and keeping their bills as low as possible,” the company said in a statement released Tuesday.
DTE said that Google will directly support up to 450 megawatts of energy storage, and 1,600 megawatts (1.6 gigawatts) of renewable energy resources.
“The agreements DTE is filing include enforceable provisions to ensure Google pays the full cost of serving its load,” the company added. “DTE’s customers will not subsidize data center rates.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued her own statement on the announcement, saying that Google had already reached out to her office to arrange a meeting.
“There is much yet to learn about how much of our resources Google expects to take here in Michigan to power and cool their massive data center operation, and my office will thoroughly scrutinize this proposal using every tool available to us to ensure DTE's existing customers, and energy consumers throughout the state, aren't left footing the bill for this project and the immense costs to deliver the expected electricity demand,” Nessel said.
Nessel added that Google had “obviously learned a lesson from the Oracle/Open AI boondoggle in Saline." She shared that the tech giant “made a direct commitment to me yesterday that they will pursue a contested case before the Public Service Commission over any utility contracts with DTE."
Google also still needs final approval from Van Buren Township officials. Negotiations over the site plan and other matters are still underway, but most township officials, including Supervisor Kevin McNamara, have voiced enthusiastic support.
“We are incredibly encouraged by the interest Google is showing in Van Buren Township,” McNamara said Tuesday, calling the project “a significant investment in our local economy” that would be an “immediate boost to our tax base, which helps us fund vital services like schools and public safety.”
Editor's note: DTE Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
