Data centers are growing fast, and the impact on nearby housing markets is a mixed bag.
They bring jobs and force electric companies to upgrade their infrastructure, but many residents worry about the noise, energy use and environmental effects.
There are 70 data centers in Michigan, including 40 in the Metro Detroit area.
A new report shows data centers can actually help homes sell faster, likely because they’re located in areas with good roads, utilities and job opportunities.
Jeanette Schneider, the president of REMAX of Southeastern Michigan, joined Local 4 Live to break it all down. You can watch the full interview at the beginning of this article.
Data centers in Michigan
Why are there data centers in Michigan?
Data centers thrive on a cooler climate, large availability of land and access to plenty of water -- Michigan checks the boxes.
For context, Lake Erie has 127 trillion gallons of water. If one data center used five million gallons of water from Lake Erie a day, it would use the entire lake in 70 years.
However, several of these data centers will have closed water systems, meaning they won’t be taking water from the Great Lakes.