Best Practices for Data Center Planning and Oversight

Washtenaw County, Michigan is experiencing rapid growth in hyperscale data center development, creating new questions around land use, infrastructure demand, water and energy consumption, governance, and long-term community impacts. In response to a County Board directive issued in 2025, the Washtenaw County Resiliency Office partnered with CIS to develop educational materials, best practices, and decision-support resources for local municipalities considering future data center proposals.

CIS is providing research, policy analysis, and community planning support to help Washtenaw County and local governments better understand the rapidly evolving data center landscape and prepare for future development pressures. This includes conducting a national scan of peer community experiences, clarifying County and municipal roles in project review and oversight, and developing a decision-support toolkit to help local governments and communities better understand how to navigate and regulate data center development. The project also examines how data centers are impacting communities nationwide through peer case studies focused on infrastructure demand, water and energy use, governance, and community priorities.

The project will provide Washtenaw County, Michigan and the municipalities it advises with a clear, actionable roadmap for anticipating data center development and responding in ways that best protect community interests. The roadmap will include case studies from peer communities, a matrix of options and implementation considerations, and an updated toolkit tailored to Michigan’s legal and regulatory context. The work products are adaptable to an evolving landscape and accessible to data center regulators from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.