Data Centers Strain Regional Water And Power

Residents of Saline Township, Michigan, oppose construction of a 2.2 million-square-foot data center for Oracle and OpenAI, citing fears it will strain local power, consume vast water supplies, and disrupt farmland. Reports from 2024–2025 estimate AI data centers could use 312–765 billion liters of water in 2025 and double or triple energy demand by 2028, prompting legal challenges and calls for transparency and policy action.