My name is Katherine Alaimo. I am an East Lansing resident, a BWL customer, and I am here today speaking on behalf of a local civic organization named Capital Area Friends of the Environment, which we call “CAFÉ”.  

 

CAFE urges the commissioners to vote no on the resolution “Special Electric Service Contracts for Large Load Customers and Potential Membership in Regional Transmission Organization” which would grant the General Manager power to enter into binding contracts with data centers without oversight of the Board of Commissioners and without participation and input from local residents and stakeholders.

 

Data centers use significant amounts of electricity and water and present serious environmental concerns including increased air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, stress on the living environment and water resources, and noise pollution. At the same time, data centers have significantly increased rates for consumers when a new electric generating plant is needed because of the huge increase in electricity consumption. Local residents should have a say in whether or not the community should bear these harms and ordinary consumers should not pay more so that large companies can profit from hosting digital content.

 

We strongly urge the Board of Commissioners to reserve the right to review, approve, reject, or modify any contracts negotiated for data centers in open meetings before they are signed and to make such contracts available to the public. 

 

Such a review preserves responsible oversight by the Board and provides the public an opportunity to know what has been agreed to by this public entity - which is owned by the residents of the city of Lansing. This type of review also enables the commissioners to benefit from the input of members of the public who will be impacted by the new development or have significant experience with electricity and environmental issues. Delegating all responsibility for these large electricity contracts to management is an abrogation of your collective responsibility as representatives of BWL’s owners.

 

Further, moving forward, we urge the Commissioners to support the adoption of Community Benefit Agreements for all new large public and private infrastructure developments and to partner with the City of Lansing to develop a Community Benefit Ordinance. These tools quantify and legally bind all of the relevant parties to the delivery of specific benefits and are a way to ensure that developers are good citizens regarding public interest concerns such as those I previously mentioned are associated with Data Centers – the living environment, water use, treatment, and protection; equity and affordability of energy systems; and public health concerns, including exposure to noise. 

 

Community Benefits Ordinances mandate that every new large development such as the Deep Green data center should include multiple groups in the negotiations before contracts are signed including the public and local neighborhood and community-based organizations – to ensure that the benefits to all outweigh the harms. The citizens of Detroit passed a Community Benefits Ordinance in 2016 and Lansing should do this as well. 

Finally, as a private citizen - given the overwhelmingly negative impact of data centers on the environment and residents, I urge mid-Michigan to just say no to data centers. Our governments should prioritize sustainability, fairness, and community well-being over corporate profits. Instead of building more data centers, Lansing BWL should invest in energy efficiency and affordability, community solar, and green technologies that reduce environmental harm. The future of technology should not come at the expense of the planet or the people who inhabit it.

Thank you.