How much power does a data center use? A single hyperscale data center typically consumes 300 to 500 megawatts of electricity — roughly the same as a small Michigan city. How big is the demand facing Michigan utilities? Consumers Energy has reported data center inquiries totaling more than 15 gigawatts of potential new demand. For
ANN ARBOR - The artificial intelligence boom has a physical footprint — and it’s far larger than most people realize. Behind every AI model and cloud service are massive data centers operating 24/7, consuming enormous amounts of electricity. Once invisible to consumers, these facilities are now reshaping power grids, utility planning, and political debates nationwide.
ANN ARBOR - A proposed $1.2 billion high-performance computing facility backed by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory has become the latest flashpoint in Michigan’s escalating backlash against data centers — a debate now centered as much on electric rates as on land use or environmental risk. The project, planned for Ypsilanti
DETROIT -If self driving cars were judged by promises alone, Michigan highways would have been filled with autonomous vehicles years ago. Instead, the state that built the modern auto industry has spent more than a decade quietly stress-testing a harder truth: getting a car to drive itself reliably, everywhere, and in all conditions is far
ANN ARBOR — As U.S. auto prices and monthly payments hit historic highs, new data reveals generational differences not only in borrowing but in how these costs are squeezing household finances. A LendingTree analysis of ~66,000 anonymized credit profiles from mid-2025 highlights stark contrasts in debt loads, payment burdens, and now leasing vs financing payment
LANSING -Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a high-stakes federal antitrust lawsuit this week targeting major oil companies—including BP, Chevron, Exxon and Shell—and the American Petroleum Institute, alleging a decades-long conspiracy to stifle competition from renewable energy and electric vehicles. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in western Michigan, frames the case as not
DETROIT - Michigan’s auto industry is navigating one of its most complex transitions in decades — and recent policy shifts on both sides of the border are accelerating the pressure. As Canada moves to sharply reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Detroit’s legacy automakers are slowing EV expansion, pivoting toward hybrids, and reassessing long-term capital
DETROIT - In a decision that could reshape Michigan’s energy and economic landscape, DTE Energy has agreed to stringent conditions attached to long-term power supply contracts for a planned 1.4-gigawatt hyperscale data center being developed by OpenAI and Oracle on roughly 575 acres of farmland south of Ann Arbor in Saline Township. The approval by
ANN ARBOR - Meta Platforms’ newly announced 6-gigawatt nuclear power agreements highlight an unmistakable reality: the accelerated deployment of artificial-intelligence data centers is stretching electric grids and reigniting debates over how America produces electricity for the digital economy. In Michigan — one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the U.S. — the conversation has
ANN ARBOR - As transportation electrification accelerates, batteries have become the central technology reshaping everything from electric vehicles rolling off Michigan assembly lines to experimental aircraft preparing for first flight. While the automotive electric vehicle battery market continues to explode in size, a quieter — but strategically important — opportunity is emerging in aircraft batteries.
