Microsoft (MSFT) has proposed building a new data center on a 237-acre lot in the Township of Lowell, Mich., as part of its commitment to spend more than $80B in fiscal 2026 to support artificial intelligence and cloud demand.
“We have the most expansive data center fleet for the AI era, and we are adding capacity at an unprecedented scale,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the company’s first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call. “We will increase our total AI capacity by over 80% this year and roughly double our total data center footprint over the next two years, reflecting the demand signals we see.”
Lowell is a community of about 4,200 residents located approximately 20 miles east of Grand Rapids. The proposed data center is a joint effort between Microsoft, Lowell Township and Franklin Partners, a commercial real estate developer.
During a Lowell Township board meeting last month, residents flooded city hall with questions and concerns related to the project, according to The Lowell Ledger. Residents were concerned over issues such as water and energy requirements and light pollution from the facility.
In response, Microsoft sent a letter last week to the township and the local planning commission, stating that it asked the seller of the property to pause its rezoning process “so that we could spend time with the community early this year and share more about our potential long-term plans before we proceed.”
“It is important to note that we are at the most preliminary stage of our development planning efforts,” the letter said. “Datacenter planning is a multi-year and capital-intensive program, and we plan for years in advance to ensure we have sufficient infrastructure in the right places to serve our customers. Our development proceeds linearly from land acquisition, to permitting, to construction and operation. Because we are at the preliminary stage, we do not have all the answers yet about what our project will look like or when we would begin construction…”
Microsoft operates more than 400 data centers around the globe. It has invested heavily in the Midwest recently and is building what it said is the world’s most powerful data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisc. Microsoft said this center, dubbed Fairweather, uses a closed-loop liquid cooling system and will consume about the same amount of water annually as a restaurant.
The company is also working to mitigate local energy price spikes.
“We appreciate that energy prices are increasing across the country and have worked hard to ensure our datacenter will not drive-up costs for our neighbors,” Microsoft said. “That’s why we’re pre-paying for the energy and electrical infrastructure that we’ll use — ensuring prices remain stable and protecting consumers from future cost increases because of our datacenter.”