Data center restrictions tracker · Michigan

Sylvan Township, Michigan: data center moratorium (2026)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

Sylvan Township, in Washtenaw County, Michigan, adopted a data-center moratorium on January 22, 2026. Its status in this snapshot is in force.

The record reads: "Sylvan Township (near Chelsea, Washtenaw County) enacted a 6-month moratorium on data centers on January 22, 2026. Supervisor Amanda Nimke stated: 'We clearly can't stop them, but we can control them in a way that they're not going to be… (datacentertracker.org)."

Details

ActionClassStatusDateMW thresholdScopeSource
Moratoriumrestrictionin forceJanuary 22, 2026not county-widedatacentertracker.org

Jurisdiction type: municipality. County: Washtenaw County. Dataset: datacentertracker. Snapshot August 15, 2026; documented actions, not a census.

Elsewhere in Washtenaw County

Michigan context

Michigan has 88 documented local actions across 84 jurisdictions in this snapshot. At the state level, Consumers Energy territory has a large-load tariff (enacted, November 6, 2025).

A town that says no to a data center gives up local tax revenue, not jobs: one large campus pays $2M to $90M a year depending on the tax regime, against roughly 50 permanent jobs. The parent piece prices it and lists the conditions that beat a ban.

Sources

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