Officials Hide Data Center Deals
The short version: Tyrone Township officials won't say if they signed NDAs with data center developers, leaving residents in the dark about a project that will hit their power bills and air.
Our Take
Credit to NowThis Impact for pressing local officials in Tyrone Township, Michigan, on a question that should have a simple yes-or-no answer: did you sign a non-disclosure agreement with the company trying to build a massive AI data center in your town? The fact that officials dodged says everything. NDAs like these are standard practice in the hyperscale buildout — developers use them to control the narrative, keep specifics about power draw, water use, and tax breaks under wraps until the deal is basically done, and residents are left finding out what's happening in their backyard secondhand.
This isn't a paperwork technicality. If township officials can't discuss the terms of a project that will spike local electricity demand and likely strain the grid residents pay into, then the people footing the bill have been cut out of the room before the conversation even started. Secrecy at the permitting stage is how these deals get locked in before communities can ask hard questions about rate hikes, water withdrawals, or who's actually paying for the substation upgrades.
Tyrone Township is one node in a much bigger map of this buildout happening county by county across the country, often under the same cloak of NDAs and closed-door negotiations. Check our facility map to see what's landing near you, and if your town is facing a similar deal, our take-action page has steps for getting real answers before the ink dries.
This is GridWatch the USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of NowThis Impact, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.