What Public Records Show About Data Centers in the U.P.

Updated August 21, 2026: Two entries have moved since publication. Delta County commissioners approved a 12-month countywide moratorium on data centers and cryptocurrency mining in late July. Clark Township’s planning commission recommended a data-center zoning ordinance on July 14 and held a public hearing on it August 11; whether the township board has adopted it is not yet in the posted minutes.

Correction and records review – July 12, 2026: An earlier version incorrectly said the Lake Superior Academy lawsuit had moved into federal court; the federal court remanded it to state court on July 21, 2025. It also overstated who was pursuing Upper Peninsula sites, misstated Switch’s jobs record and Michigan law, and published unsupported claims about Cloverland Electric, mining operations, a Dafter permit, noise levels and local opposition. Those claims have been corrected or removed.

Public records reviewed by Yooper Hub do not identify a hyperscale developer, an approved Upper Peninsula data-center project, a final site, a utility interconnection request or a construction permit. What the records do show is an unnamed data-center intermediary’s preliminary inquiry to InvestUP, an unfinished regional energy study, a Dafter computing-facility dispute, and documented local and tribal planning actions.

The confirmed inquiry is preliminary

InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante told TV6 in a report published February 24, 2026, that an unnamed “data center aggregator” had contacted the regional economic-development organization about two months earlier. InvestUP and partners then assembled information about possible properties. Fittante described the contact as very early and only a first step.

TV6 also reported that public-record requests to Upper Peninsula counties had found no evidence of data-center projects in the vast majority of responses received by that point. Responses from Gogebic, Houghton, Luce and Schoolcraft counties were still pending when the report was published. That snapshot does not establish that no later proposal exists.

InvestUP was also studying how a large project could affect the eastern U.P. energy system. Yooper Hub has not found published results from that study in the records reviewed for this correction. The available record therefore supports an early inquiry, not a claim that a named technology company is selecting or developing a U.P. site.

What the Dafter court record says

Dafter Township had 1,327 residents in the 2020 Census. A dispute there involves Lake Superior Academy and Odessa Corporation. In its complaint, the school alleged that Odessa placed six shipping-container-size structures nearby, operated data-processing equipment around the clock and produced noise above 50 decibels at the school’s property. Those are allegations, not findings by Yooper Hub or a final court judgment.

The Chippewa County Circuit Court initially issued a temporary restraining order. Odessa then removed case 25-18269-CZ to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan as case 2:25-cv-00160. On July 21, 2025, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney remanded the case because Odessa had not established federal subject-matter jurisdiction. The federal order did not decide the merits of the school’s allegations.

Yooper Hub has not obtained a current state-court register of actions after the remand and is not stating whether the parties later resolved the dispute or whether a later injunction remains in effect.

Documented government responses

Clark Township records document a developing policy response, but not a current outcome that Yooper Hub can confirm. September 17, 2025 board minutes say a moratorium was then preventing cryptocurrency-mining permit applications while an ordinance was drafted. Draft April 22, 2026 minutes say the planning commission was working toward a final ordinance before the moratorium’s expected June expiration. A June 9 agenda lists approval of a revised crypto ordinance under old business. The agenda alone does not prove what action the board took.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians took a separate action. Its May 19, 2026 board packet confirms adoption of Resolution 2026-107, establishing a moratorium on data centers on Tribal land. The resolution text in the April 7 board packet prohibits approval, permitting, development, construction, leasing, operation and negotiation for AI data centers on Tribal and trust lands. It is indefinite unless lifted by a later resolution after specified impact, environmental, cultural, infrastructure, energy and community reviews.

Michigan’s tax rules and the Switch jobs record

Michigan’s data-center equipment tax exemptions came from 2024 Public Acts 181 and 207, effective April 2 and April 17, 2025, respectively. For an enterprise data center to receive certification, the law includes at least $250 million in aggregate capital investment, at least 30 qualifying jobs paid at 150% of the regional median wage, green-building certification and clean-energy procurement equal to at least 90% of forecast annual electricity use. Other definitions and deadlines also apply.

Switch’s Grand Rapids-area project is useful only as a carefully bounded comparison. A July 2016 Michigan Strategic Fund packet projected 103 jobs at Switch by December 31, 2021. It separately anticipated at least 100 jobs from colocated tenants; it did not promise 1,000 Switch jobs. The state’s 2023 Renaissance Zone report lists 43 current Switch employees, including 17 transferred positions, and 26 actual jobs created above the report’s zero-job baseline. The 26 figure is not the site’s total employment.

What remains unverified

The reviewed records do not identify the intermediary, a developer, a final parcel, an approved project, a permit application, a utility interconnection request or the results of InvestUP’s energy study. Yooper Hub also found no reliable support in those records for the previous article’s claims that Cloverland Electric had the region’s lowest rates or was recruiting data centers, that three mining operations were running in the U.P., that a Dafter storage-facility permit covered the disputed operation, or that all AI computing loads can be curtailed in the same way.

How to verify a future proposal

• Check the relevant township, city and county planning agendas, minutes, zoning files and permit records.
• Look for a Michigan Strategic Fund or Michigan Economic Development Corporation certification tied to the state tax exemption.
• Request the utility-service or interconnection record and distinguish a preliminary inquiry from an executed agreement.
• For the Dafter dispute, consult the Chippewa County Circuit Court register for case 25-18269-CZ rather than relying on the ended federal docket.

This article was rebuilt from the records listed below. Yooper Hub will update it when a named project, application, court filing, energy study, ordinance or other controlling record becomes available.

Yooper Hub community

The conversation

Know something this story missed? Corrections and additions get read by an editor and folded into the article, with credit.

Real neighbors, real names. A Yooper Hub editor reads your first comment before it appears; after that you’re a known neighbor and your comments post right away. No account required. Community guidelines

Nothing here yet. A sentence is plenty: a correction, a name, or what you remember about this place.

Join the conversation

Your comment

Name

Email never published

Leave this field empty

Post commentFirst comments are read by an editor before they appear.

class=”yh-after-story” aria-label=”Keep reading”>

Golden 25 trust review · #5

Verified context for this Yooper Hub story

Evidence refreshed

July 13, 2026

Source readiness

Live source review complete.

Corrections status

A material correction or update note is published in this article.

Image rights

Featured and in-story images have documented rights records.

Sources, credits, and reporting details

Sources & accountability

How this story was reported

Editorial methodService and public-interest reporting

Accountable editor:Keegan O’Brien, publisher and editor.

Last verifiedAug. 21, 2026

Corrections statusA material correction or update note is published in this article.

Verification note: Aug 21 recheck: Delta County approved a 12-month data-center and crypto moratorium in late July (Daily Press July 23, Mining Journal July 24). Clark Township moved from moratorium to a proposed zoning ordinance: PC recommendation July 14, public hearing Aug 11, board item Aug 19; adoption not yet in posted minutes (township clerk 906-484-2672 settles it). Sault Tribe 2026-107 unchanged; InvestUP study unpublished; tax law unchanged with HB 6135-6142/SB 1046-1050 pending; no named project, MSF certification, or utility filing. Dated update note added to the article.

Primary sources

1. Order remanding Lake Superior Academy v. Odessa Corporation — U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan / GovInfo

   Published Jul. 21, 2025. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Identifies the state and federal case numbers, the parties, the complaint's six-structure and above-50-decibel allegations, the temporary restraining order, and the July 21, 2025 remand for lack of established federal subject-matter jurisdiction.

   The order does not decide the merits and does not establish the current state-court posture.

2. 2020 Census county subdivision record for Dafter Township — U.S. Census Bureau

   Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Reports Dafter Township's 2020 Census population as 1,327.

3. Revenue Administrative Bulletin 2025-18 — Michigan Department of Treasury

   Published Sep. 16, 2025. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Explains the data-center sales and use tax exemptions enacted in 2024 Public Acts 181 and 207, their April 2025 effective dates, and enterprise certification conditions including investment, jobs, wage, building and clean-energy requirements.

4. Michigan Strategic Fund July 2016 meeting packet — Michigan Strategic Fund

   Published Jul. 26, 2016. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Projects 103 Switch jobs by December 31, 2021 and separately anticipates at least 100 jobs from colocated tenants.

5. CY2023 Renaissance Zone Annual Report — Michigan Economic Development Corporation

   Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Lists Switch with 43 current employees, 17 transferred employees, a zero-job baseline and 26 actual jobs created for the reporting year.

   The 26 actual-created figure is not total site employment.

6. Sault Tribe Board of Directors April 7, 2026 packet — Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

   Published Apr. 7, 2026. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Contains Resolution 2026-107's moratorium text and scope, including Tribal and trust lands, prohibited actions, required review topics and the later-resolution condition for lifting it.

7. Sault Tribe Board of Directors May 19, 2026 packet — Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

   Published May. 19, 2026. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Confirms that the Tribe approved Resolution 2026-107 establishing a data-center moratorium on Tribal land.

8. Clark Township Board minutes, September 17, 2025 — Clark Township

   Published Sep. 17, 2025. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Records that a cryptocurrency-mining moratorium was then in place while the township awaited a draft ordinance.

9. Clark Township draft minutes, April 22, 2026 — Clark Township

   Published Apr. 22, 2026. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Records ongoing work toward a final data-center ordinance before the moratorium's expected June expiration.

   Draft minutes; used only for the status they report, not as proof of later adoption.

10. Clark Township Board agenda, June 9, 2026 — Clark Township

    Published Jun. 9, 2026. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

    Supports: Lists approval of a revised crypto ordinance as an agenda item.

    An agenda is not proof that the item passed; current final status remains unverified.

Additional reporting

1. TV6 Investigates: Data centers in the U.P. — WLUC-TV6

   Published Feb. 24, 2026. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026.

   Supports: Reports InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante's account of an unnamed data-center aggregator's contact about two months earlier, the preliminary property-information response, the early-stage description, the ongoing energy study and the dated county-records survey.

2. Clark Township Planning Commission minutes, July 14, 2026

   Published Jul. 14, 2026. Accessed Aug. 21, 2026.

   Supports: Clark Township Planning Commission recommended a data-center zoning ordinance to the Township Board on July 14, 2026.

   Delta County moratorium: Daily Press, July 23, 2026, and Mining Journal, July 24, 2026.

Photo and media credits

1. Miners Castle, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan — rboed / Wikimedia Commons

   Featured image record. Published Jun. 2, 2024. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026. CC BY 2.0; attribution required; local resizing disclosed.

   Supports: Rights record for featured media attachment 1319. The local copy was resized and is used only as contextual U.P. geography, not as a project-site image.

2. Data Center of CMC Telecom — Daoducquan / Wikimedia Commons

   Published Jan. 12, 2017. Accessed Jul. 12, 2026. CC BY-SA 4.0; local crop and resize disclosed; derivative remains CC BY-SA 4.0.

   Supports: Rights record for body media attachment 1320. The image is illustrative and does not depict a U.P. facility or proposal.

Corrections policy | Report a correction or missing credit

Media rights and provenance

• Miners Castle contextual featured photograph

  Creator: rboed

  Original source: Wikimedia Commons file record

  Rights basis: CC BY 2.0. Commercial reuse permitted with attribution.

  Modification scope: Resizing permitted; attribution and an indication of changes are required.

  Required credit: Photo: rboed / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Local copy resized. Contextual U.P. landscape, not a proposed site.

  AI provenance: Documentary photograph. No AI-generated imagery used.

• CMC Telecom data-center interior photograph

  Creator: Daoducquan

  Original source: Wikimedia Commons file record

  Rights basis: CC BY-SA 4.0. Commercial reuse permitted with attribution and share-alike compliance.

  Modification scope: Cropping and resizing permitted; derivatives remain under CC BY-SA 4.0 and changes must be indicated.

  Required credit: Photo: Daoducquan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Local crop and resize. Illustrative, not a U.P. facility.

  AI provenance: Documentary photograph. No AI-generated imagery used.