KENT COUNTY, Mich. — At the Grand Rapids Policy Conference on Friday, a representative from Microsoft discussed data centers in West Michigan.
In Kent County, the multi-trillion dollar tech giant has proposed data centers in Lowell and Gaines Township and held town halls this week to discuss these plans with residents.
While Microsoft declined to interview with FOX 17 News during these community gatherings, a keynote address from Jonathan Noble, Microsoft Senior Director of Government Affairs and Infrastructure, offered insight to the company's strategy.
Noble said Microsoft selects potential locations for data centers based on customer demand, network access, suitable land, community, qualified personnel and renewable energy.
"This is critical infrastructure," he said, claiming data centers were necessary to modern life in the same way railroads were essential to America's westward expansion.
"We are not doing this for us. We are serving customers. We are serving people like yourselves," he said.
During his address, Noble also named a series of "community-first commitments," including a promise to "pay our way to ensure our data centers don't increase your electricity prices" and to "minimize our water use and replenish more of your water than we use."
He said this could be accomplished through working with utility companies, partnering with municipalities to improve their water infrastructure and supporting conservation work.
"We hear concerns from people: 'Hey, you're going to break X, Y and Z.' We're committed to not break X, Y and Z," Noble said.
"We are committed to being a good neighbor," he said.
The grassroots group Residents United for a Healthy Lowell says Microsoft has done little to convince them of a data center's benefit.
"We had the opportunity to ask questions and speak with people, but it was very much a top-down conversation," said member Molly Hilton, referencing the town hall held by Microsoft in Lowell Township.
"Very much one way communication," she said.
"I moved here to come to the farm, to see the nature," Lowell Township neighbor Jamie Thompson said. "I don’t want to see a big warehouse."
"Money is not going to buy what we want," Residents United for a Healthy Lowell founder Betsy Lopez-Wagner said. "We're saying no."
