Overview
- Senator Sue Shink is the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 762 (2025), a bipartisan bill that would require the Michigan Public Service Commission to publish annual reports on energy consumption and water usage by large data centers — a transparency measure designed to address local concerns in Washtenaw County about the unprecedented demands such facilities could place on the electrical grid and regional water resources as developers pursue hyperscale projects like the one proposed in Saline Township.
- In late 2025, Shink and Senator Jeff Irwin introduced legislation to enable virtual power plants in Michigan, including Senate Bills 731 and 732 (2025), which would create a legal framework for aggregating distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and battery storage into coordinated grid services. Shink has said this approach could reduce reliance on high-emission “peaker plants,” improve grid reliability, and help communities across Michigan — including Washtenaw County — manage rising demand more efficiently.
- Shink has publicly pushed back on regulatory shortcuts for massive energy contracts linked to data centers, arguing that decisions with major implications for grid reliability and ratepayer costs should be handled through contested case hearings at the Michigan Public Service Commission rather than expedited, confidential approvals. This stance reflects concerns raised by local stakeholders about transparency and community input on proposals that could affect utility rates and infrastructure.
- On broader environmental cleanup policy, Shink has supported renewed efforts to strengthen “polluter pay” laws in Michigan. She joined colleagues in the Senate Energy and Environment Committee urging updates to cleanup rules that would improve protections for water and land, increase reporting, extend the statute of limitations for pollution claims, and allow residents to seek medical monitoring for hazardous exposures — a package of reforms that environmental advocates say would shift liability back to polluters rather than communities like those in the Huron River Watershed near Washtenaw County.
- Shink’s policy agenda ties local environmental concerns to statewide energy and cleanup reform: she frames modernizing Michigan’s energy and regulatory systems as essential for sustainable growth, affordable energy, and community health. Her work on grid innovation and data center oversight connects with local debates in Washtenaw County about infrastructure strain and environmental impact, while her support for accountability in contamination cleanup reflects longtime county and regional advocacy for stronger protections of groundwater and natural resources.
Transcription
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to this week's edition of Issues of the Environment. In 2026, there are a good number of environmental issues that will be dealt with within the Michigan Legislature. What the outcomes will be and what progress can be made in a midterm election year--well, that remains to be determined. Our guest this morning has her environmental priorities she would like to advance. Sue Shink is a Democrat from Northfield Township and represents the 14th District in the Michigan Senate. Welcome back to WEMU, Senator Shink!
Sen. Sue Shink: Thank you so much! I'm very glad to be here!
David Fair: Well, one of the issues that's going to be top of mind throughout the year is the matter of data centers. Michigan's become a designation state for these facilities, and there are a number either planned or proposed right here in Washtenaw County. Now, Governor Whitmer fully supports data centers because of what it can do for employment and the economy. These facilities, though, take an inordinate amount of energy to run and, in some cases, a great deal of water to keep cool. What is your broad position on data centers?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, data centers are coming. I think that's pretty clear. We already have, I guess, about 50 in the state. They tend to be smaller. And they're not really what people are concerned about. What people are concerned about are the hyperscale data centers, which do offer potentially thousands of jobs while they're being built. They take about a year to build. And then, after that, not so many jobs and maybe not such glamorous jobs. A lot of times it tends to be maintenance and security because they are worth so much. They're huge investments, but they don't offer a lot of long-term jobs So, what I just want to say is that like this isn't about all data centers. This is about these really big ones that take hundreds of acres, are going to almost always be sited on active or recently active farmland, and some of them, like the one in Saline, can use as much electricity as one quarter of what the entire state of Michigan uses already. And I believe that there are like 11 to 15 planned right now.
David Fair: And the power issue is one that we're going to get to, but I also want to deal with the issue of water. One of the reasons Michigan is so attracted to data center developers and operators is the access to fresh water, much of which is used in agriculture. What do you think is required, legislatively and in regulatory measure, to ensure adequate protection of this most valued natural resource?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, thank you. Right now, if they get the tax break that is attracting them, and I will say I voted against it because I didn't think there were enough guardrails, they must connect to municipal water. And that's a good thing. That's a good start. But we need to make sure that we know how much water is being withdrawn, that there aren't adverse effects to area wells or area water uses, including agriculture, and that any costs that are associated with that, whether they're direct or indirect, are borne by the data center and not by the residents who live there, not by other businesses in the area. And right now, we actually don't have laws that would create those protections. I will say that I just introduced a bill that would require reporting of water usage and electric usage. And another senator, Rosemary Bayer, introduced a bill that would prohibit water withdrawals of more than two million gallons a day. And that would, actually, I think that would help a lot at two million gallons of day---
David Fair: That sounds like an awfully lot!
Sen. Sue Shink: Yes. But it happens. Like, there are some of those kind of withdrawals near even where I live. At that rate, they then start to affect the surrounding wells. And we have better laws in Michigan than in some places, but that doesn't mean there are not.
David Fair: Well, I know you've heard from the public a great deal of skepticism about our utilities and their role in data centers. They have to expand grid capacity and reliability and promise it will not come at a cost to residential rate payers. What assurance can the state Legislature provide in keeping the utilities, like DTE and Consumers Energy, to their word?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, for starters, let's have full, open, contested case hearings when the utility goes to the Michigan Public Service Commission. I advocated strongly, along with almost 30 of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the House and the Senate. We didn't get that. And it sounds like the MPSC is going to, in the future, do an open, contested case hearing but they didn't do that.
David Fair: Right.
Sen. Sue Shink: What is the landmark case? The Saline case. They say that DTE isn't going to be able to pass those costs on, but from what I understand is DTE is assured a 10% rate of return, regardless of whatever else is going on in the world. And we don't see how that is going to be enforced. And so, I still have questions. I still have concerns. And quite frankly, in the legislation that allows for the tax cuts for the data centers coming in, it's direct cost. But it's not that outside infrastructure that might be shared with somebody else. Those costs aren't really attributed to the data center under that legislation. And so, I think we still need more protections. Exactly what those look like, I don't think we have all the words in order yet, but I think we're darn close.
David Fair: Our Issues of the Environment conversation with State Senator Sue Shink continues on 89.1 WEMU. And looking at energy a little further, there have been ongoing efforts in Lansing to create policy and legislation that would allow for greater self-determination in energy production. Efforts to expand rooftop solar and create effective community energy storage capabilities meet with consistent and well-funded opposition. What do you anticipate may happen in this legislative session?
Sen. Sue Shink: Probably not much. I think what we will see is a lot of conversation, and I do know that there's a lot of concern on both sides of the aisle around data centers specifically and around rates. But it's been a very difficult political environment. We have gotten some stuff done, and I'm proud that I have been one of the people who's been able to get some bills through, but it's fewer than ever. And so, I think we're going to need a lot of community input and community reaching out to their legislators to say, "Hey, we need this done!" We have a rate payer bill of rights that a number of people have introduced. I support it. And then, also, people should know there's a ballot measure to keep utility money out of politics. And that would go a long way toward changing the environment around rates and how electric utilities are regulated and then, also, what people can do with their own homes, whether it's rooftop solar or community solar or behind the meter virtual power plants. So, it's a good time for people to get engaged on this issue if it's important to them.
David Fair: Well, while those conversations are ongoing, Washtenaw County has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2035, Ann Arbor's goal is 2030. Part of getting there involves the transportation sector. Automakers are starting to cut back on electric vehicle production and goals because the federal administration has ended tax credits to subsidize the transition away from fossil fuel vehicles. Additionally, the administration is lifting some of the emission standard restrictions. What, if anything, will be done to offset that shift from a state legislative level?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, within our department, people have been working very hard to try to save and shore up programs. But one of the issues is that our federal tax dollars that were coming back to support priorities that we as a community have have been taken away in so many ways, including around EVs, including around some of the solar work that was being done, especially for people with lower income. And so, that is super frustrating. There is a lot that communities can do on their own and that communities are doing. Ann Arbor's got a Green Rental Program that they're rolling out right now. There are incentives for people to buy electric bikes. And so, I think, when things aren't working at the federal level, then we need to work on the local level or the volunteer level or the state level where we can. And there are a lot of good things happening, and there will be in the budget, but I also have to say as much money as went to the roads this last budget, some of that came out of programs people care about, like energy efficiency. So, there's a lot going on, and, again, it's a good time for people to be engaged on that. And I do want to say a little bit on the data centers and their electricity usage, because if all the data centers that are planned are built, it will likely gut the clean energy legislation that so many of us work so hard to get passed because there are things called "off-ramp," that if the state can't meet its energy needs by using renewable resources, they don't have to. And so then, they're basically excused from the goal, and that will affect our municipalities' abilities to reach their goal. So, I'm pretty fired up about that!
David Fair: It sounds like it!
Sen. Sue Shink: I think when people were advocating for those off-ramps, they knew those data centers were coming in, didn't say anything, and once one data center--hyperscale data center--is built, it is very likely that the other ones will be allowed to use non-renewable resources. And then, the other thing is that the way the Michigan Strategic Fund has interpreted the tax break legislation for the data centers, and I'll just say tax breaks for industry are pretty common to encourage jobs and economic activity in the state, but they're counting renewable resources at any electricity from a utility that is working toward the clean energy goal. But with the off-ramps, they could be working toward the goals and really not making very much progress. And so, that's something people need to be aware of, and, hopefully, they'll be fired up about it too.
David Fair: Once again, this is 89.1 WEMU, and our Issues of the Environment guest this week is State Senator Sue Shink. A good portion of our state economy relies on manufacturing. It's a part of our state identity, and we always ask our partners in that sector to stand up and be responsible stewards of the environment. Not all comply, and it is taxpayers that often end up bearing the cost of environmental cleanup and remediation. We used to have laws in place requiring that those who pollute pay for the cleanup. That ended with the Engler administration. Any chance that some version of polluter pay legislation makes its way through Lansing this year?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, we're trying, and the reason for that is if you look at a map of what we call brownfield sites, so polluted sites across Michigan, you see thousands. And many of them are orphaned sites that are never going to get cleaned up without somebody who's not that company coming up and cleaning up their mess, right? They took the profits, they left, and now we've got the mess. And so, that's what polluter pay is. It's like telling your kids to clean up your socks, except for it's not socks, it's cancer-causing chemicals. And that's all we're trying to do is get companies that are here to clean up their messes while they're here. And I know that a lot of people support it, regardless of who they vote for. I think we're having some problems getting traction on the other side of the aisle on that, but we will keep trying. And again, this is a place where people need to speak up. I actually got to work on polluter pay case when I was a law student, and I saw the value of them. It really cleans up polluted land and returns it to the community. And we have some ways to do that with our brownfield funding, which is really effective, but this is another way and to have the companies bear the cost of the pollution that they created, which, for most of them or probably all of them, create a profit, which they then benefited from. We shouldn't have to pay the price for that.
David Fair: You mentioned that these are issues that should be of concern to everyone, regardless of how they vote, but you may have heard people will vote this year. It's a midterm election year. And typically, it becomes a more difficult proposition to pass any legislation that is in any way controversial or partisan. What impact do you think the elections are going to have on the ability to pass meaningful environmental issues in 2026?
Sen. Sue Shink: Well, I think it'll make it more difficult. And this past year, the Legislature passed fewer bills than ever--25. And we have seen, and the Senate passed....I don't know how many bills, but so many bills went over to the House, and the House refused to take them up. And it's a very difficult situation when we have to have the House as a partner. And their speaker has insulted the leader, the Governor, my leader. They've done some pretty wild thing that are harmful, like withholding bills from the Governor, withdrawing $640 million from ongoing projects that were negotiated and approved and contracted for, causing great harm across the state, including in our district. It's already really hard, and I can only imagine that it's going to become harder. And I think this is a good place. Again, I keep saying it. People, please speak up! And Washtenaw County--amazing, right? And people's representatives and senators are really working hard for what people are asking for. So, reach out to your cousins and friends who live in other districts. It's our job to get the work of the people done. Not everybody who's there sees it that way. I absolutely do.
David Fair: We absolutely have an interesting year ahead, and we will most certainly have occasion to catch up and talk again. Thank you so much for the time and conversation today, Senator!
Sen. Sue Shink: Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful day and everybody else does too! And always feel free to contact me! I want to hear from you!
David Fair: That is 14th District State Senator Sue Shink. She is a Democrat from Northfield Township and our guest on Issues of the Environment. For more information on the topics of our conversation, pay a visit to our website at WEMU.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it every Wednesday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti.
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