"New Michigan data center plans are on the verge of triggering an “offramp” in the state’s nation-leading climate laws that would effectively halt the shift to renewables less than two years after the plans were approved."
"The “offramp” provision in Michigan’s 2023 climate and clean energy laws allows utilities to keep running or building fossil fuel plants if renewable sources cannot handle the energy grid’s load. Now, newly proposed data centers could cause the offramp to be triggered, as DTE Energy executives say they are working on plans to power those centers and may need to build a new gas plant.
DTE, the state’s largest utility, is in negotiations with big tech companies to provide 7 gigawatts of power for several proposed data centers. The capacity of the grid that DTE manages is about 11 GW. It already delivers a peak of at least 9.5 GW of power to its territory, meaning the 7 GW would cause DTE to exceed capacity.
Similarly, Consumers Energy, the state’s second-largest utility, has 7.6 GW of capacity, and 15 GW of data center projects in the works.
Advocates say the centers are also presenting a financial threat to residential ratepayers who may be on the hook for some or all of the electric-expansion costs, unless state regulators require tech companies to pay for the plants."
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