Bridge on WJR: ‘Devil’s in the details’ on data centers

Bridge Michigan reporter Kelly House joined WJR’s ‘All Talk with Kevin Dietz’ to discuss environmental issues the state is facing
Among other things, House discussed the potential impact of data center electricity and water usage
The WJR collaboration is part of Bridge Listens. We are asking readers to nominate their top 2026 election issues in this form

Bridge Michigan senior reporter Kelly House joined WJR-760 on Wednesday to discuss her reporting on threats to Michigan rivers, the Great Lakes and the broader environment, including data center development, aging dams and water contaminants.

House was a guest on “All Talk with Kevin Dietz” as part of an ongoing election-year collaboration between Bridge and WJR.

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The collaboration — known as “Election 2026 Coverage that Matters to Michigan” — is part of Bridge Listens, a yearlong effort to help identify and discuss the top election issues in Michigan before the 2026 election.

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Much of the political debate over hyperscale data centers – like the Saline Township development poised to be the first of what could be many in the state — has focused on their potential to raise energy rates for Michigan residents.

“They absolutely do consume enormous amounts of electricity. That is just a fact,” House said. “The question then becomes, Who’s going to pay for it, and how are you deriving that electricity?”

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If state regulators and utilities do not manage the increased demand, “it can raise residents’ rates because basically you have these big users competing with the public for a limited resource,” she said.

But conversely, if that rising demand is managed, ”it can actually create downward pressure on rates, because you’re getting the economies of scale of more people paying for the maintenance and upkeep of a system,” House added.

“So, devil’s in the details.”