Saline Township has 1 data center on the record; it is proposed. No city rule about data centers is on the record for Saline Township yet. Washtenaw County's own decisions are on the Washtenaw County page.
How to read this page. Every count comes from the records on this page and links to where it is counted. Nothing is published until a person reads its source, and a figure no source gives reads Not disclosed; nothing is estimated. A rating changes only when a person sets it.
| Facility and county | Stage | Operator | Power (MW) | Latest entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle and OpenAI Saline Township Data Center Saline Township, Washtenaw County | Proposed | Oracle | Saline Township initially voted against rezoning farmland for The Barn; developers sued and township settled. bridgemi.com (opens in a new tab) local outlet reported August 21, 2026 |
A blank cell means not disclosed by any source on file. Power is the developer's figure or a permit's, each linked on the record.
| Record | Place | Stage | Operator | MW | Basis | Located | Tier | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle and OpenAI Saline Township Data Center | Saline Township, Washtenaw | Proposed | Oracle | centroid | 1 | 2026-09-17 |
Tier 1: an official or company source. Tier 2: a news report resolving to the outlet's own page. Located: a site coordinate from a permit, a parcel or an address, or the county or town centroid. Verified: the last day a person read the source. A blank cell means not disclosed by any source on file.
Now reportedOracle and OpenAI Saline Township Data Center
Related Digital purchased Rustic Glen Golf Club, an 18 hole public course in Saline Township
supports a moratorium on new data-center development until safeguards are in place to protect water resources, limit electricity-cost increases for residents and give local communities a voice
Joi Harris, DTE Energy president and CEO, said the plan would be $3.5 billion less expensive than the company's previous IRP from 2022
Every Michigan statement, by speaker
"This permit itself is just one piece of the puzzle that focuses on their sanitary wastewater"
Provenance: Quoted; content date; reported from elsewhere.
Setting: Michigan EGLE public hearing.
Primary source: Michigan Advance (opens in a new tab).
"I'm very concerned about downstream effects. The impoundment about six miles downstream here in Saline City is where nutrients and bacteria will settle and will accumulate"
Provenance: Quoted; content date; reported from elsewhere.
Setting: Michigan EGLE public hearing.
Primary source: Michigan Advance (opens in a new tab).
"This will be led by the locals and not by Lansing"
Provenance: Quoted; content date; reported from elsewhere.
Setting: WDIV gubernatorial debate.
Primary source: Hoodline (opens in a new tab).
Sierra Club of Michigan said Oracle, building a mega data center in Saline Township, is rated BBB minus, just above junk bonds
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: Michigan Public (opens in a new tab).
Bryan Smigielski, Sierra Club of Michigan, said the planned power plants will likely serve electricity requirements of data centers and called for transparent modeling of future energy needs with and without data centers
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: Michigan Public (opens in a new tab).
Sierra Club of Michigan asked Michigan Public Service Commission to require DTE to model future energy needs with no data centers and compare to future energy needs including data centers
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: Michigan Public (opens in a new tab).
Related Companies says Friedrichs received zero commission from the Related Digital data center project and is no longer working on Michigan projects as of March 2026.
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: The Oakland Press (opens in a new tab).
Jocelyn Benson's husband, Ryan Friedrichs, earned $370,000 in 2025 as an employee of Related Companies, which is developing the Saline Township data center.
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: The Oakland Press (opens in a new tab).
Gretchen Whitmer has championed the data center and likened Michigan's AI investments to propping up a new version of Michigan's auto industry
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: Political Currents by Ross Barkan (opens in a new tab).
John James, a congressman and Republican, supports a moratorium on the construction of new data centers in Michigan
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: Political Currents by Ross Barkan (opens in a new tab).
Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor and the most likely politician to replace her next year, now supports a moratorium on the construction of new data centers in Michigan
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: Political Currents by Ross Barkan (opens in a new tab).
Chris Kobus noted that Michigan has perfect conditions for data centers including power infrastructure, cooling infrastructure with water availability, and internet backbone
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: CBS News (opens in a new tab).
Chris Kobus, engineering professor at Oakland University, said there has been an explosion of activism against data centers in Michigan this calendar year
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: CBS News (opens in a new tab).
Timothy from Saline Township stated strong opposition to AI in all its forms and called data centers a waste of resources
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: CBS News (opens in a new tab).
Mike MacDonald from York Township expressed concern about the massive use of rural land and unknown water and electricity draw from data centers
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: CBS News (opens in a new tab).
Only one official, Elaine Ferris, will face a vote in November to remove her from office over data center votes.
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: bridgemi.com (opens in a new tab).
Related Digital committed to keeping Rustic Glen Golf Club open to public play
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: CBS News (opens in a new tab).
Distances run between the centers the Census Bureau gives each place. Every Michigan county.
| Figure | Disclosed total | Disclosed | Without a figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 0 | 1 | ||
| Water, stated per day | 0 | 1 | ||
| Water, stated per year | 0 | 1 | ||
| Permanent jobs | 0 | 1 | ||
| Tax each year | 0 | 1 |
A blank total means no record disclosed the figure; the count without one says how many.
Summed only where a record disclosed the figure; a record with no figure adds nothing and is counted as not disclosed. Water is summed per day and per year separately, as the sources stated it, and never converted. A tax claim given as a range is summed at both ends.
| Use | Records | Power | Water | Jobs | Tax each year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No stated use | 1 |
A blank cell means no record with that use disclosed the figure.
A record that lists several uses counts once under each. Each cell is the sum over the records with that use, disclosed rows only.
No source on file states what any of the 1 tracked facility in Saline Township is for.
No source on file states how any of the 1 tracked facility in Saline Township is cooled.
Report a correction · Send a tip about Saline Township · The rows here are part of the Michigan export.
Data Center Record, "Data center records in Saline Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan", https://datacenterrecord.org/states/mi/washtenaw-county/saline-township. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY-NC 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY-NC 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Prose stays under copyright.
