Two weeks ago, Detroit City Council passed a resolution requesting a two-year moratorium on Data Centers to conduct a study on their social and economic impacts. These studies would be pointless as they are already obsolete because they would be based on outdated models that are no longer the basis for specifications to construct and operate them.
All of last year’s campaigns were composed of calls for more “Good Jobs” and “Affordable Housing”. We have an opportunity to secure good jobs providing good pay that will permit people to afford good housing and our elected officials want to put it on hold, all the while discouraging other potential investors from engaging with Detroit because we can’t seem to get out of our own way.
I have attached an infographic on the distribution of Data Centers across the country. What the numbers will tell you is that the greatest concentrations of DC’s are in densely populated areas driving substantial economic activity. These include the two states with the highest concentration of Fortune 500 corporate headquarters and the most in Virginia supporting our government’s need for data processing.
DC’s are in fact infrastructure. The infographic also tells us that DC’s are not new with over 5,000 in existence. Up until two years ago, you really hadn’t heard much about them because there was nothing to be said. No Chicken Little the Sky is Falling alarm being sounded.
Let’s address the two most common concerns associated with DC’s; water and power, nothing new.
The entirety of the industrial revolution/evolution was equally, if not more so, dependent on both resources. The manufacture of transport vehicles and the steel industry alone required massive consumption of both. Long story short, Ford Motor in building the Rouge incorporated their own powerhouse in the design by 1928, a century ago. General Motors Cadillac Plant 1921 had its own water recovery and treatment plant built into the south side of the Clark street campus.
Fast forward, 1980’s, Riverfront Towers had its own battery backed generator system built in to protect against outages. Today, the ability to recapture water and incorporate self-supporting and sustainable power generation utilizing micro-reactors and combo generator-battery supported systems essentially mitigate any concerns regarding adverse impacts.
This past month alone provided forums on the issue at the Michigan Chronicle’s Pancakes and Politics, The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce State of the Region, The Big Four, The State of the County; each event with a focus on regionalism and each in their own way, supportive of DC’s recognizing the significance of the role they play in providing the infrastructure to support a platform for growth in our region.
During Mayor Sheffield’s State of the City, she placed a focus on the Move Detroit initiative to increase our population by supporting home ownership incentives. Her Chief of Staff made the point of aligning our success in attracting new residents on the availability of opportunity. Council’s proposed moratorium is contradictory to those aspirations.
Two weeks ago, I attended the Detroit City Council meeting to request that the council withdraw its request for a moratorium, because we already have the tools necessary to address their concerns, thereby nullifying any need for a study. The Toolkit I am referring to would be comprised of the Community Benefits Ordinance (10 years of successful implementation) and the Executive Orders covering Detroit based hiring and contracting initiatives to start.
This is an opportunity for Detroit to share with the state legislature our CBO as a template for our representatives in Lansing to model something similar for the state. Senate Candidate Mallory Mc Morrow is the only one thus far to outline her vision for DC’s that looks and sounds very much like Detroit’s CBO.
The truth is a two-year time out will culminate in Detroit being passed over in the drive to increase capacity by 2030. If we do this, we are essentially out of the game. By the time we get back to it, 2028, it will take two more years to set up the regulatory framework to participate, which takes us to 2030, game over.
I invite you to study the infographic and think about when or where you have heard or read about anything negative or adverse regarding Data Center’s anywhere in America, especially Virginia, California and/or Texas.
