New Power Lines Are Forcing Farmers Off Their Land

The City of Flint recently passed a one-year moratorium on data centers after residents spoke out against potential developments.

I get it. Nobody wants data centers. But there are industrial wastelands that already have the basic infrastructure to operate them.

Michiganders have seen the state’s slow downfall as automakers began downsizing in the early 1990s.

Demolition at Detroit’s Packard Plant is almost complete after decades of disuse, but for some reason the thought of putting in a data center there hasn’t been explored deeply.

Instead, developers eye farmland, forests, and rural areas no matter how many members of the community don’t want them. And guess what? More are coming.

On June 1, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was caught on a hot mic allegedly telling an Oracle CEO at the groundbreaking ceremony in Saline, “We’re used to people saying, ‘Hell no,’ but we do it anyway.”

Whitmer and Jocelyn Benson’s husband Ryan Fiedrichs went against the public and did what they wanted anyway.

The site is in the middle of the state on a formerly beautiful piece of farmland that now will need to be equipped with all the necessary infrastructure from scratch. It’s nowhere near a major water source.

Now, ITC Michigan, the largest independent transmission company in the state, is telling local farmers and landowners who say “Hell no” that they are doing it anyway and will be installing new power lines on their land. How ITC is doing this is extremely troubling.

ITC is bullying residents into either selling them pieces of their property or threatening to take it by using eminent domain.

I spoke with Rick Thelen of Fowler whose family farm of almost 90 years is being threatened by the 345 kV AC transmission lines planned along the Nelson Road-Oneida route, which is one of the three projects suited to take place.

Fowler is a town of roughly 1,200 residents just West of I-127, about a half hour north of Lansing.

Rick, along with other family members nearby, have received multiple low-ball offers for the pieces of his land needed for the new lines, which they have refused.

The line crosses diagonally through Rick’s property, which drastically affects planting and aerial spraying, as the lines require an easement of 100 feet on each side.

Not only is the space being taken, but power line noise drastically changes the quiet lifestyle communities like Fowler have enjoyed for centuries. And what about the possible negative health effects of living too close to them?

These power lines will then make that land of more interesting for data center, solar and wind developers, according to Kevin Krause, who works for the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Oh, and guess what else? The ratepayers will foot the bill for the new lines via years of rate increases!

So not only will Rick and his family be stuck with annoying power lines and higher bills, the area would likely be targeted with another green energy scam or another data center development.

Why big businesses target peaceful pieces of land in areas where people want to get away from the hustle and bustle is something I cannot quite figure out.

Wouldn’t it be easier to move water from the Detroit or Flint River to an already industrialized area? They ran plenty of electricity to those old plants years ago. Why can’t they start do that instead of building new ones?

Unfortunately, with the people in power, those are questions that will never get answered.

They’ll do what they want anyway.