related digital saline township campus (openai/oracle)

Michigan’s first hyperscale data center; $7 billion investment; 1.4 GW power requirement; significant community opposition and regulatory scrutiny

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project overview

The Related Digital Saline Township Campus represents Michigan’s first hyperscale data center, designed to serve OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) and Oracle Corporation for AI and cloud computing workloads. The 2.2 million square foot facility would require 1.4 gigawatts of power, making it one of the largest data center projects in the United States and a significant addition to Michigan’s energy grid.

The project has become a flashpoint for debate over large-scale data center development, pitting economic development interests against environmental concerns, ratepayer protections, and community character preservation.

location and scale

key stakeholders

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regulatory status

MPSC expedited approval request

DTE Energy has requested ex-parte (expedited) approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to fast-track special power contracts for the facility. Key regulatory timeline:

The expedited approval process would bypass public hearings and formal legal scrutiny from outside groups. This approach has drawn significant criticism from advocacy organizations and elected officials.

attorney general intervention

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a 17-page brief on November 6, 2025 urging MPSC regulators to increase scrutiny on the data center deal rather than approve it through an expedited process. The filing raised concerns about the precedent-setting nature of the approval and the need for thorough public review.

intervening parties

Multiple advocacy organizations have formally requested contested proceedings and the opportunity to intervene in the MPSC review:

• Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity
• Michigan Environmental Council
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Sierra Club
• Citizens Utility Board of Michigan
• The Ecology Center
• Environmental Law & Policy Center
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Vote Solar
• Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association

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community opposition

december 1, 2025 protest

Over 100 Saline area residents gathered on December 1, 2025 to protest the project and DTE’s expedited approval request. Protesters occupied all four corners of downtown Saline’s main intersection at Michigan Avenue and Ann Arbor Street, chanting “No secret deals” and holding protest signs. Many motorists honked in support.

key community concerns

utility response

DTE Energy officials have stated that the data center would not impact power reliability or raise costs for residential ratepayers. They argue it would actually decrease costs for residential ratepayers by spreading the fixed costs of running the grid over greater electric sales. Many community members and advocacy groups remain unconvinced by these assurances.

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zoning and land use history

initial denial

Saline Township officials initially voted 4-1 to deny Related Digital’s request to rezone approximately 575 acres for the data center campus. The denial reflected community concerns about the project’s scale and impacts.

lawsuit and settlement

Following the rezoning denial, Related Digital and associated landowners filed a lawsuit against Saline Township. Rather than fight an expensive legal battle, township officials agreed to settle the lawsuit, effectively allowing the project to proceed to the regulatory approval phase.

This settlement drew significant criticism from residents who felt the township should have defended its denial decision.

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investment breakdown

The $7.0 billion investment is estimated to be distributed across multiple components:

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infrastructure requirements

power capacity

The facility requires 1.4 GW of power capacity, one of the largest power demands for any single data center project in the United States:

facility specifications

water and cooling

Community concerns have been raised about potential impacts to the Saline River from chemical discharges and the overall water consumption of the facility. Data centers of this scale typically require significant water resources for cooling systems.

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policy context

michigan data center tax incentives

Michigan’s 2024 data center tax incentive law, signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and effective April 2024, exempts large data center equipment and construction materials from state sales and use tax. This legislation has attracted multiple hyperscale developers to evaluate Michigan communities.

The Saline Township project represents the first major test of this incentive program and could set precedents for future data center developments in the state.

broader industry trend

The project reflects a national trend of AI companies seeking massive compute capacity for training and running large language models. As AI workloads grow exponentially, companies like OpenAI require gigawatt-scale facilities that were previously uncommon outside of traditional hyperscaler hubs like Northern Virginia.

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economic impact analysis

job creation (projected)

economic considerations

Proponents argue the project would bring:

• Significant property tax revenue to Washtenaw County
• Construction employment during build-out
• Permanent technical jobs
• Economic multiplier effects from worker spending

Opponents counter that:

• Data centers create relatively few permanent jobs per dollar invested
• Tax incentives may offset much of the potential revenue
• Environmental and infrastructure costs may not be fully accounted for
• Rural agricultural land provides its own economic and community value

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technical specifications

workload types

ai/ml capabilities

As an OpenAI anchor tenant facility, the campus would likely include:

• High-density GPU computing: NVIDIA H100, H200, or GB200 GPUs for AI training
• Advanced cooling: Direct-to-chip liquid cooling for high power densities
• High-speed networking: 400G/800G Ethernet or InfiniBand for distributed training
• Massive storage: Multi-exabyte storage capacity for training data
• Low-latency architecture: Optimized for large-scale model training

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strategic importance

michigan’s data center ambitions

This project represents a pivotal moment for Michigan’s efforts to establish itself as a data center hub. Approval would:

• Establish Michigan as a hyperscale destination
• Validate the state’s 2024 tax incentive legislation
• Potentially attract additional large-scale data center investment

precedent-setting nature

The regulatory process for this project will set important precedents for:

• How Michigan utilities contract with large industrial customers
• The level of public scrutiny required for major data center deals
• The balance between economic development and community/environmental concerns
• Whether expedited approval processes are appropriate for projects of this scale

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stakeholder analysis

project sponsors and developers

Related Digital (Related Companies subsidiary) - Real estate developer leading the project

Green Chile Ventures LLC (Oracle subsidiary) - Power contract entity

anchor tenants

OpenAI - AI research company, ChatGPT creator, primary compute user

Oracle Corporation - Cloud infrastructure provider

utility provider

DTE Energy - Michigan’s largest electric utility, seeking MPSC approval for special contracts

opposition coalition

A broad coalition of environmental, consumer advocacy, and community groups has formed to oppose the expedited approval process and demand greater scrutiny of the project’s impacts.

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sources and references

1. Protesters rally against DTE’s attempt to fast-track OpenAI, Oracle data center - MLive (2025-12-02) - https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2025/12/protesters-rally-against-dtes-attempt-to-fast-track-openai-oracle-data-center.html

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related pages

• Michigan datacenter infrastructure
• OpenAI entity profile
• Oracle Corporation entity profile
• mega-projects overview
• all projects database
• datacenter infrastructure

analysis current as of December 2025