PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage city council is expected to slap a temporary moratorium this week on permits for new data centers and energy storage projects.
They will also set a March 24th public hearing on a more substantial moratorium, that will be in effect through the rest of this year, or until they are able to approve a permanent set of regulations for the two kinds of high tech facilities in place.
Chief development officer Peter Dame says they are taking the action at the request of citizens who expressed concerns about the problems such facilities may cause.
There are a lot of moving parts to the issue, and the moratorium will give city staff and the public time to wade through them and respond appropriately.
Data centers are central repositories for computer information, to power modern computing, cloud services and internet applications. The upper Midwest is a popular place to put them because they need to be cooled, and there is more cold air and water here than in most other parts of the country.
But they also use a lot of energy and compete with everyone else for those resources.
Complicating the issue is a lawsuit filed by 70 Michigan townships challenging the Michigan Public Service Commission’s claim that they have the right to decide where battery storage facilities can be located, and not local communities.
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