Data Centers: Environmental and Community Impacts and the Path Ahead Register

Date and Time:
Thu, Mar 5, 2026; 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM  (Eastern)

Organized By: Southeast Michigan Group

Location: Virtual

Suddenly, data centers are a hot issue all over Michigan. Twenty new data centers proposals are being pushed in our state by big and wealthy tech interests, at least half of which are huge hyperscale centers. Communities are wary and people are protesting.

How will new centers affect electricity demand and rates, water usage and water rates, and clean renewable energy targets set in Michigan law? Are communities right to worry about local impacts like air pollution and noise pollution? Are developers even giving us the facts about the big centers? 

Paul Gruber, Director of Sustainability Solutions at Fresch Coast Climate Solutions, will run down why this is happening here and now, what impacts big data centers are already having elsewhere and what the risks of the data center boom are. He will give us his evaluation of what it will take to curb negative impacts and make data centers really sustainable.

That's where all of us in the Sierra Club and the environmental community come in. Sierra Club staffers Bryan Smigielski and Tim Minotas will set out actions we all can take to slow the rush of data centers and force full disclosures, complete evaluations and fully sustainable practices on an industry that only wants full control, non-disclosure and quick approvals.