Bill Text: MI HB6251 | 2025-2026 | 103rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Businesses: other; energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation requirements for certain data centers; provide for. Creates new act.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-08-27 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 08/26/2026 [HB6251 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2025-HB6251-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 6251
A bill to require the submission of energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluations by the developers or operators of certain data centers; to impose certain requirements on the developers or operators of certain data centers; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state and local governmental officers and entities; to prescribe civil sanctions; to provide remedies; and to provide for the promulgation of rules.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. This act may be cited as the "data center energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation act".
(a) "Affected electric provider" means any person that is reasonably anticipated to provide electric service, transmission service, distribution service, interconnection service, or infrastructure service to a large-scale data center.
(b) "Commission" means the Michigan public service commission created in section 1 of 1939 PA 3, MCL 460.1.
(c) "Common control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management, operations, development, financing, construction, ownership, leasing, or use of a facility, parcel, project, phase, affiliate, subsidiary, contractor-controlled site, special purpose entity, or related development, whether through ownership, contract, lease, management agreement, development agreement, option agreement, power purchase arrangement, interconnection request, financing arrangement, or other means.
(d) "Data center" means a facility, campus, group of buildings, or commonly controlled development that is primarily used to house, operate, or support servers, data storage systems, networking equipment, cooling systems, power infrastructure, or other information technology equipment for the purpose of processing, storing, managing, or transmitting digital data, including, but not limited to, cloud computing, artificial intelligence computing, high-performance computing, cryptocurrency mining, or collocation services.
(e) "Energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation" or "evaluation" means a site-specific evaluation of the anticipated total electrical demand, cooling systems, heat rejection methods, thermal management practices, energy efficiency approaches, and infrastructure impacts that are associated with the construction, expansion, material modification, or operation of a large-scale data center.
(f) "Large-scale data center" means a data center that meets 1 or more of the following:
(iii) Is constructed or developed in phases that collectively meet or are reasonably anticipated to meet a threshold described in subparagraph (i) or (ii).
(iv) Is subject to an expansion or material modification that causes or is reasonably anticipated to cause the data center to meet a threshold described in subparagraph (i) or (ii).
(v) Is classified as a hyperscale data center, mega-hyperscale data center, or major digital infrastructure development under another law of this state.
(g) "Local unit of government" means a county, township, city, or village.
(h) "Material modification" means a change, expansion, redesign, or load increase of a data center that is reasonably anticipated to increase total building area, land area used for data center operations, water demand for cooling systems, heat rejection capacity, designed information technology load, or total electrical demand by 10% or more.
(i) "Person" means an individual or a partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.
(j) "Proprietary information" means trade secrets, critical energy infrastructure information, cybersecurity-sensitive information, security-sensitive site information, confidential engineering information, detailed engineering drawings, and other information that has not been publicly disseminated or that is unavailable from other sources, the release of which might cause the submitter of the information competitive harm.
(k) "Public summary" means a plain-language summary of an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation that describes the scale, anticipated total electrical demand, cooling systems, and major infrastructure needs of a large-scale data center, and any measures considered in the evaluation to reduce infrastructure strain and ratepayer cost shifting.
(l) "Qualified professional" means a licensed professional engineer, qualified environmental professional, qualified climatology or meteorology professional, qualified building science professional, or other professional with the relevant education, training, and experience necessary to prepare an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation using generally accepted engineering practices.
Sec. 5. (1) In addition to any other requirement provided by law, a person shall not begin construction or an expansion or material modification of a large-scale data center unless the commission has issued a certificate of completeness for the large-scale data center under this section.
(2) In order to obtain a certificate of completeness under this section, the developer or operator of a large-scale data center must submit an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation to the commission on a form and in a manner prescribed by the commission. The submission must be made not less than 120 days before construction, expansion, or material modification of the large-scale data center begins unless waived by the commission for good cause. The energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation must be prepared by a qualified professional using generally accepted engineering practices and must include or attach all of the following:
(a) The anticipated total electrical demand, aggregate critical information technology load, peak demand, load ramp schedule, water use, and reasonably anticipated load growth for all phases of the large-scale data center.
(b) A description of the cooling systems, heat rejection methods, thermal management practices, back-up power systems, and energy efficiency measures that will be used by the large-scale data center, and a description of whether waste heat reuse, closed-loop cooling, geothermal exchange, district energy, or other practicable alternatives were evaluated.
(c) A description of any new or materially expanded electric transmission, distribution, substation, transformer, interconnection, back-up generation, water, wastewater, transportation, emergency response, or other public or utility infrastructure that is reasonably anticipated to be required for the large-scale data center.
(d) An analysis of any practicable methods available to the large-scale data center to reduce energy consumption, water use, peak demand, infrastructure strain, and ratepayer cost shifting.
(e) An analysis of any alternative approaches available to the large-scale data center with respect to site design, phasing, cooling, energy efficiency, and load management.
(f) A list of each person that is required to receive notice of the evaluation under subsection (4).
(g) A public summary of the evaluation.
(h) A certification by the developer or operator that the information submitted in the evaluation is accurate to the best of the developer's or operator's knowledge and that affiliated, phased, or commonly controlled portions of the development have not been omitted.
(3) An energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation submitted under subsection (2) must be accompanied by a review fee to the commission in an amount determined by the commission under this subsection. The commission shall determine the amount of the review fee on an annual basis in an amount not to exceed the reasonably anticipated costs of the commission to administer this act.
(4) Not later than 30 days after submitting an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation to the commission under this section, the developer or operator shall file a copy of the evaluation with all of the following persons:
(a) The clerk of each local unit of government that may be affected by the construction, expansion, or material modification.
(b) Each affected electric provider.
(5) If a material change occurs related to the plans for the construction, expansion, or material modification of a large-scale data center while an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation is under review by the commission under this section, the developer or operator shall submit an updated evaluation to the commission not later than 30 days after the developer or operator knows or reasonably should know of the material change.
(6) Not later than 45 days after the commission receives an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation under subsection (2) or an updated evaluation under subsection (5), whichever is later, the commission shall determine whether the submission is administratively complete for purposes of this act. The commission may consult with any affected electric provider, any affected local unit of government, and any other relevant person to evaluate the submission. If the commission determines that a submission is not administratively complete, the commission may require a developer or operator to supplement the submission. The developer or operator shall promptly provide the supplement after receiving notice from the commission under this subsection. If the commission determines that a submission is administratively complete and the accompanying review fee has been paid, the commission shall issue a certificate of completeness for the large-scale data center.
Sec. 7. (1) The commission and any person that receives a copy of an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation under section 5(4) may use the evaluation for informational and planning purposes to the extent authorized by law.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3), a developer or operator may designate any proprietary information in an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation for confidential treatment.
(3) The following information in an energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation must not be designated for confidential treatment under subsection (2):
(a) The public summary of the evaluation.
(b) The projected total electrical demand of the large-scale data center.
(c) A general description of the cooling systems of the large-scale data center.
(d) A general description of the infrastructure categories anticipated to be needed for the large-scale data center.
(e) The general conclusions of the evaluation.
(4) Proprietary information designated for confidential treatment under subsection (2) is exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, and must not be made available for public inspection or copying or divulged without the written consent of the developer or operator, except in accordance with a judicial order.
(5) The commission shall make the public summary of each energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation submitted under section 5 available to the public in a manner determined by the commission.
Sec. 9. (1) A certificate of completeness issued under section 5 for a large-scale data center expires after 24 months.
(2) If the construction, expansion, or material modification of a large-scale data center does not begin before the certificate of completeness for the large-scale data center expires, the developer or operator shall do 1 of the following before beginning the construction, expansion, or material modification:
(a) Certify to the commission that the energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation previously submitted to the commission remains accurate and that no material change has occurred. Upon receipt of a certification by a developer or operator under this subdivision, the commission shall extend the expiration date of the certificate of completeness for an additional period of 12 months.
(b) Submit an updated energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation to the commission for review. The updated evaluation is subject to the requirements of a new energy infrastructure and thermal management evaluation submitted to the commission under section 5.
Sec. 11. A person that violates this act is subject to a civil fine of not more than $10,000.00 for each day of violation. The prosecutor of the county in which the violation occurred or the attorney general may bring an action to collect the civil fine or to obtain an injunction against the person. A civil fine collected under this section must be deposited in the general fund.
Sec. 13. The commission may promulgate rules to implement this act under the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328.
Sec. 15. Nothing in this act shall be construed to regulate electric rates, cost recovery, interconnection standards, or utility infrastructure planning.
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.
