No Data Center, No Nukes in Charlevoix County!
What’s a data center? See the video:
Could one or more data centers be located in Charlevoix County? The possibility is strong, given that Consumers Energy owns 500 acres of land in Hayes Township on Lake Michigan, the former Big Rock Point nuclear power plant. Holtec International, which owns 100 acres of highly-radioactive waste inside the 500 acres, announced in 2025 it intends to place data centers on its decommissioned nuclear power sites, and is building Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. Consumers Energy also wants data centers.
There may be other targeted areas.
Public meetings to attend: City of Charlevoix Planning Commission, June 8 at 6 pm (in person only), Charlevoix City Hall. Click here to see draft Data Center Ordinance for the City. Say NO to a data center ordinance that allows in data centers.
And on June 8, the Hayes Township Board of Trustees Meeting, 7 pm. Tell them: No Secret Data Center Advisory Committee meetings!
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We are community members leading the effort to fight data centers in Charlevoix County (Michigan) to protect our land, water, air, rural and small town character, local resources, and quality of life.
Potential Sites: Big Rock Point
The former nuclear power plant site on Lake Michigan (about 500 acres) is currently owned by Consumers Energy. Consumers intends to build data centers. Situated within the 500 acres is another 100 acres owned by Holtec International, a company that originally purchased the radioactive waste site as part of “decommissioning.” In July 2025, Holtec announced “HI‑CLOUD, a new initiative focused on converting decommissioned nuclear power plant sites into secure, utility-ready data center campuses.” Powering such a data center might include Holtec’s “Small Modular Nuclear Reactors,” which are not small at all, producing 300 Megawatts. In comparison, Big Rock operated at 67 MW. See below about SMNRs.
What are Data Centers?
Massive data centers for artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrency “mining” and other computing operations are being proposed and built across the nation, and they are different than data centers of the past. This expansive buildup of gigantic, heavy industrial facilities has been happening in Michigan at an alarming rate, thanks to huge tax breaks the State of Michigan gave these tech giants in 2024. Acres and acres of land are being used for the large facilities, their power generating sources, electrical substations, backup power such as diesel generators, battery storage systems and other infrastructure.
Impacts
Enormous Water Consumption
Uses staggering amounts of electricity, running 24 hours a day, every day
Water pollution
Constant noise, 24 hours a day
Light pollution 24 hours a day, harming wildlife
Destruction of thousands of acres of habitat, farmland, open space, wetlands
Air pollution from dirty diesel backup generators
Increased electricity costs and massive buildup of the grid
Creation of electronic waste, with computers and servers being replaced often
Take Action to stop data centers
- Attend our organizing meetings
- Speak up at your local township board or city council meetings and Planning Commission meetings
- Attend county commission meetings and county Planning commission meetings
- Write state representatives in Lansing about pending data center bills
Can you zone them out?
You will find misinformation about “exclusionary zoning” in news articles. Here’s a legal perspective on how AI data centers are not necessarily a “demonstrated need” locally, therefore do not need to be accommodated in local zoning ordinances. Other reasons in the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (section MCL 125.3207) also allow a community to prohibit a data center. For example, there might not be an appropriate place for one, so it would not be “exclusionary.” In Michigan, when a zoning ordinance does not permit a use in a zoning district, that use is prohibited.
Meetings, Moratoriums, Ordinances in Charlevoix County
Go to the link for each township or city’s website. For data center documents we obtained, see the descriptions for links.
Hayes Township
Location of former Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant
We are most concerned about this location for a potential data center. After putting data centers into its new Master Plan in January 2026, Hayes Township then established a moratorium and a Data Center advisory committee, which has meetings closed to the public or media. While the Board of Trustees enacted a 12-month moratorium in January, the moratorium states it is “necessary that portions of the Zoning Ordinance be revised and rewritten to regulate data centers and clearly define the parameters for their consideration.”
Currently the I-1 industrial zone only allows light industry with an absence of noise, and it is not necessary to change that. See Exclusionary Zoning position paper attorney Ellis Boal.
See the FOIA materials we obtained from Hayes Township HERE.
Charlevoix Township
Provides fire for Hayes Township and other communities
See the FOIA results we received from Charlevoix Township HERE.
City of Charlevoix
Ordinance in the works.
On June 8, the City of Charlevoix Planning Commission will meet at 6 pm. The Commission will discuss a draft Data Center Ordinance that would allow data centers up to 10 Megawatts within the city’s industrial Zones. See the draft ordinance and city Zoning Map HERE.
Norwood Township
Norwood has an I-1 zone for light industry only. Data centers have come up in recent meetings in early 2026.
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
LTBB adopted Tribal Resolution #040926-02 in April 2026 against data centers, affirming the tribe’s rights to protect its lands and water in relation to data infrastructure and associated energy systems. Some LTBB land is adjacent to Big Rock Point.
Marion Township
Planning Commissioners discussed data centers at their February 2026 meeting, and will work on creating regulations for data centers.
Charlevoix County
The county does not do zoning, but does create a County Future Land Use Plan, and provides comment on township zoning ordinances and master plans. (Individual municipalities have their own zoning ordinances). However at the December 2025 County Planning Commission meeting, county planning commissioners suggested to Hayes Township planning commissioners, who were in attendance, to incorporate data centers into the Hayes Township Master Plan and zoning ordinance, with one Commissioner stating the Big Rock would be an ideal location for a data center. Hayes Township did so, resulting in public pushback, a moratorium, and Data Center Advisory Committee which meets secretly out of the public eye.
See the FOIA materials we obtained from Charlevoix County HERE.
HOLTEC’s “Small” Modular Nuclear Reactor Could be 300 Megawatts
That’s more than 4 times more megawatts than Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant generated.
These new reactors are not “small.”
Data Center Maps
FracTracker Alliance Data Center Tracker
Michigan Nuisance Map–for reporting nuisances
Michigan Data Centers in the News
Charlevoix County
Northern Michigan township extends data center pause amid concerns over Big Rock Point. March 11, 2026. MLive.
Former nuclear plant site draws data center concerns in Northern Michigan. Feb 10W, 2026. MLive.
Charlevoix-area township passes data center moratorium. Feb 10, 2026. Interlochen Public Radio.
Data Centers 101: What Are Data Centers and Why Are They Coming to Michigan? Feb 21, 2026. Northern Express.
Northern Michigan
Community pushback prompts Sault Tribe leadership to adopt moratorium on data centers. April 10, 2026. Michigan Advance.
Enviro groups to address crypto, data center concerns in Northern Michigan. Jan 15, 2026. MLive.
Proposed Kalkaska County data center halted after public feedback, company president says. Nov 20, 2025. UpNorthLive.
Elsewhere in Michigan
Business leaders call data centers Michigan’s ‘golden ticket.’ Residents ask, for whom? May 31, 2026. MLive.
Michigan residents file class action lawsuit over data center noise as AI projects face growing backlash. May 27, 2026 Detroit Metro Times.
Recall petitions approved against 3 officials in township grappling with data center south of Ann Arbor. (Saline Township) May 21, 2026. MLive.
Residents speak in favor of a one-year moratorium in Penn Township. May 19, 2026. ABC 57.com
Washington Township data center developer withdraws application. May 19, 2026. Planet Detroit.
Residents threaten recall after Lowell Township rejects data center moratorium. May 18, 2026. MLive.
Judge allows recall effort targeting entire board over data center project near Ann Arbor. May 13, 2026. MLive. (Augusta Township)
A Michigan farm town voted down plans for a giant OpenAI-Oracle data center. Weeks later, construction began: The AI boom is coming for rural America,. Inside one town’s effort to fight back. May 6, 2026. Fortune Magazine. (Saline Township)
As data center moratoriums stack up, some 1,500 square miles in Michigan are off-limits. April 28, 2026. MLive.
Los Alamos, University of Michigan supercomputing site faces water service moratorium. April 22, 2026. Mlive. (Ypsilanti Township)
VIDEO: Rally Against AI Data Centers in Michigan Held at Roosevelt Park, Detroit. April 20, 2026.
Google revealed as company behind hyperscale data center “Project Cannoli.” March 18, 2026. Michigan Radio.
AI, other data centers are coming to Michigan — and they need a lot of energy and water. Nov 7, 2025. Detroit Free Press.
National News
‘The Most Bipartisan Issue Since Beer’: Opposition to Data Centers. May 1, 2026. New York Times. Features Saline Township, Michigan.
The Big Tech campaign to fast track nuke energy. Senators Whitehouse and Booker take the lead in Congress. Capitol Hill Citizen. May/June 2026.
Other Resources
Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” 2026. Full version. Six take-aways by New York Times.