Bill Text: MI HB6252 | 2025-2026 | 103rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Businesses: other; thermal impact assessment 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 [HB6252 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2025-HB6252-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 6252
A bill to require the submission of thermal impact assessments 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 thermal impact and community protection act".
Sec. 2. (1) This act is intended to do both of the following:
(a) Ensure that local units of government, planning commissions, regional planning commissions, zoning commissions, coordinating zoning committees, and the public receive notice of localized thermal impacts associated with large-scale data center development before major land use and infrastructure decisions are made.
(b) Provide a planning and transparency framework for the evaluation and disclosure of localized thermal impacts.
(2) This act is not intended to create any land use, permitting, or other approval authority except to require a certificate of completeness under section 5.
(a) "Baseline conditions" means existing land surface temperature, ambient air temperature, heat-retaining surface conditions, vegetation or tree canopy conditions, localized microclimate conditions, and wetlands, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, drainage features, and other natural features that are within a thermal study area to the extent relevant to evaluate localized thermal impacts before construction, expansion, or material modification of a large-scale data center begins.
(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) "Coordinating zoning committee" means that term as defined in section 102 of the Michigan zoning enabling act, 2006 PA 110, MCL 125.3102.
(e) "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.
(f) "Department" means the department of environment, Great Lakes, and energy.
(g) "Large-scale data center" means a data center that meets 1 or more of the following:
(i) Has, is designed to have, is approved for, or is reasonably projected to have an aggregate critical information technology load of 25 megawatts or more.
(ii) Has, is designed to have, is approved for, or is reasonably projected to have a total electrical demand of 50 megawatts or more.
(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.
(h) "Local unit of government" means a county, township, city, or village.
(i) "Localized thermal impact" means a measurable or reasonably modeled change in land surface temperature, ambient air temperature, heat retention, heat rejection, or localized microclimate conditions at or near a large-scale data center that is reasonably attributable to the construction, physical design, surface conditions, cooling systems, heat rejection systems, or operation of the large-scale data center.
(j) "Material modification" means a change, expansion, or redesign of a data center that is reasonably anticipated to cause localized thermal impacts or that increases total building area, land area used for data center operations, heat rejection capacity, designed information technology load, or total electrical demand by 10% or more.
(k) "Person" means an individual or a partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity.
(l) "Planning commission" means that term as defined in section 3 of the Michigan planning enabling act, 2008 PA 33, MCL 125.3803.
(m) "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 which is unavailable from other sources, the release of which might cause the submitter of the information competitive harm.
(n) "Public summary" means a plain-language summary of a thermal impact assessment that describes a large-scale data center, the general geographic area studied, anticipated localized thermal impacts, general methods used to evaluate anticipated localized thermal impacts, general mitigation alternatives considered, and any material uncertainty in the assessment.
(o) "Regional planning commission" means a regional planning commission created under 1945 PA 281, MCL 125.11 to 125.25.
(p) "Thermal impact assessment" or "assessment" means a site-specific assessment of the baseline conditions, reasonably anticipated localized thermal impacts, modeling assumptions, thermal study area, relevant surrounding land uses, and reasonable thermal mitigation alternatives associated with the construction, expansion, material modification, or operation of a large-scale data center.
(q) "Thermal study area" means the geographic area evaluated in a thermal impact assessment as determined using generally accepted scientific or engineering practices. Thermal study area includes, but is not limited to, the project site, adjacent properties, public rights-of-way, nearby residential areas, schools, parks, agricultural areas, wetlands, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, drainage features, sensitive facilities, local planning areas, and other areas reasonably likely to experience localized thermal impacts.
(r) "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 evaluate localized thermal impacts using generally accepted scientific or engineering practices.
(s) "Zoning commission" means that term as defined in section 102 of the Michigan zoning enabling act, 2006 PA 110, MCL 125.3102.
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 a thermal impact assessment 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 thermal impact assessment must be prepared by a qualified professional using generally accepted scientific or engineering practices and must include or attach all of the following:
(a) A description of the proposed large-scale data center, including, but not limited to, the general building footprint, site design, impervious surface conditions, cooling systems, heat rejection systems, and other physical characteristics relevant to localized thermal impacts.
(b) A description of baseline conditions within the thermal study area.
(c) An evaluation of reasonably anticipated localized thermal impacts of the large-scale data center during typical seasonal conditions and, if practicable, during high-heat or peak-temperature conditions.
(d) A description of the modeling assumptions, measurement methods, data sources, limitations, and uncertainty ranges used in the assessment.
(e) A map or narrative description of the thermal study area.
(f) A description of any thermal mitigation alternatives considered, including, but not limited to, site design changes, reflective or cool surfaces, vegetative buffers, tree canopy preservation or replacement, waste heat reuse, cooling-system alternatives, heat-rejection placement, building orientation, and other measures.
(g) A statement of whether other nearby large-scale data centers may contribute to cumulative localized thermal impacts within the thermal study area, based on reasonably available information.
(h) A list of each person that is required to receive notice of the assessment under subsection (4).
(i) A public summary of the assessment.
(j) A certification by the developer or operator that the information submitted in the assessment 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) A thermal impact assessment 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 a thermal impact assessment to the commission under this section, the developer or operator shall file a copy of the assessment 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) Any planning commission of a local unit of government described in subdivision (a).
(c) The county planning commission of any county in which a local unit of government described in subdivision (a) is located. If there is not a county planning commission, the copy must be filed with the regional planning commission engaged in planning for the region in which the local unit of government is located.
(d) Any zoning commission of a local unit of government described in subdivision (a).
(e) The county zoning commission of any county in which a local unit of government described in subdivision (a) is located. If there is not a county zoning commission, the copy must be filed with the coordinating zoning committee for the region in which the local unit of government is located.
(5) If a material change occurs related to the plans for the construction, expansion, or material modification of a large-scale data center while a thermal impact assessment is under review by the commission under this section, the developer or operator shall submit an updated assessment 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 a thermal impact assessment under subsection (2) or an updated assessment 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 the department, 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 a thermal impact assessment under section 5(4) may use the assessment 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 a thermal impact assessment for confidential treatment.
(3) The following information in a thermal impact assessment must not be designated for confidential treatment under subsection (2):
(a) The public summary of the assessment.
(b) The general thermal study area of the assessment.
(c) The types of localized thermal impacts evaluated in the assessment.
(d) The general mitigation alternatives considered in the assessment.
(e) The general conclusions of the assessment.
(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 thermal impact assessment 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 thermal impact assessment 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 thermal impact assessment to the commission for review. The updated assessment is subject to the requirements of a new thermal impact assessment submitted to the commission under section 5.
(3) If a certificate of completeness is issued under section 5 for a large-scale data center, the developer or operator must submit a postconstruction certification to the commission not later than 12 months after completion of the construction, expansion, or material modification. The postconstruction certification must state whether the large-scale data center as constructed materially differs from the thermal impact assessment submitted under section 5 with respect to site design, cooling system, heat rejection, or other factors relevant to localized thermal impacts. If a material difference described in this subsection has occurred, the developer or operator must submit an updated thermal impact assessment with the postconstruction certification.
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.
