Hello Downriver,
I was surprised to find that this is my 900th column for the News Herald since I was asked to return to these pages on Aug. 24, 2011.
And while there’s certainly been a passage of time from 14 and a half years ago, some things never change.
You, “the people.”
Our communities evolve, our roads get bad and then get better (then get bad again), businesses open and close, kids grow up and leave (and then return), classrooms get ever more digital, our finances improve and implode.
But you, “the people,” never really change.
Older? Of course.
Different? Nope.
On the pages of the News Herald and on posts to social media groups, you continue to demonstrate your involvement with your communities, your commitment to your neighborhoods and neighbors.
For example, a week ago, Anne Runkle, reporting on the proposed data center project in Allen Park, wrote there was a “standing-room-only audience” in attendance at the Jan. 8 meeting of the city’s Planning Commission.
Termed a “heated session” in the headline, the meeting was adjourned without action by the commission so its members could get “more information” from the Allen Park Fire Department, as well as conduct additional noise studies about the proposed site — “with an emphasis on how the development could affect nearby neighborhoods in Allen Park and Melvindale as well as Melvindale High School.”
In short, the people in attendance forced a halt to the project until their concerns were adequately addressed.
And what are those concerns?
Among other things, that the 26-megawatt, 45,000 square-foot facility will put an unnecessary burden on the region’s water system, drive up electric bills, create noise pollution and emit radiation, as well as other “harmful substances.”
Of course, the developer, Solstice Data, has consistently told residents not to worry, none of those concerns are warranted.
Phil Harvey, founder and CEO of Delaware-based Solstice Data, said that a preliminary study showed that “Allen Park neighborhoods closest to the proposed data center on Enterprise Drive, south of I-94, would not create noise above that typically created by a normal conversation.”
(Not quite true: read on.)
But here’s where “the people” came in.
According to Anne Runkle’s reporting, those who attended the public hearing said the noise study only contacted those who live within 300 feet of the proposed data center — the length of a football field — but argued that the noise impact will reach far beyond that distance.
Now I don’t know about you, but I can hear the train whistles from a mile and a half away (Gibraltar and Fort Street) — and I can certainly hear the noise from the Ford assembly plant across I-75, which is 2,270 feet away.
Which means 300 feet doesn’t nearly capture the impact of what might come.
But what kind of noise are we talking about?
Well, according to various sources, data centers create a “dominant, continuous, low-frequency humming or droning noise, like a loud vacuum…”
This is caused by the massive cooling fans and HVAC systems needed to keep the heat-generating servers cool and calm.
And every data center has standby generators to jump in when local power supplies don’t quite meet demand.
But how much noise are we talking?
Again, various sources agree that data center noise falls in the 85-to-100 (and more) decibels range — considered “very loud to dangerous.”
Indeed, prolonged exposure to 85 decibels (dBA) is where long-term, permanent hearing damage begins, with hearing protection recommended (at 85 dBA) or required (above 90-95 dBA).
Over 95 dBA and you’re talking the equivalent of standing next to a snowmobile, motorcycle, chainsaw, jackhammer or listening to music through headphones at a maximum volume.
So let’s not be quick to discount noise, OK?
But then there’s concerns about costs to homeowners: Michigan’s electricity prices already are around 19-20 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), which is higher than the national average of 16-19 cents.
Now, that doesn’t sound like much of a difference based on pennies, but those pennies translate into an average monthly bill of $130-$140 nationally vs. around $207 a month in Michigan
And massive new data centers are anticipated to drive up residential electricity costs in Michigan by 5-10%, which led the state to create new, specific tariffs with long-term contracts and minimum usage fees to ostensibly protect residential customers from bearing the huge new load.
The problem is that there are no guarantees that such steps will protect us from those price increases down the road.
Oh, and get this: Michigan lawmakers already passed sales and use tax exemptions for data centers — on condition that they can’t raise residential rates.
The problem is that the Michigan Public Service Commission doesn’t have the power to enforce those price controls.
Oops.
That means “the people” in attendance at the Allen Park meeting were correct in being concerned.
“The people” who never really change, who continue to remain committed to their communities, to their neighbors.
Yep, over the years, some things never change.
Fortunately.
——
My sincere thanks to all who continue to share their condolences on the passing of former News Herald managing editor — and my wife — Mavis McKinney-Farrand.
Your kind thoughts, posted on Facebook and sent by mail and email have meant the world to me and her children.
Thank you.
To read my essays, check out Substack.com and look for me at “Farrandipity.” Craig Farrand is a former managing editor of The News-Herald and can be reached at craig.substack@gmail.com.
