HB 6251

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".
Sec. 3. As used in this
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:
(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.
(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.