JUNE 2026

• June 16 - Petition language was approved by the Kent County Election Committee, giving the recall a green light to proceed!

• June 8 - Over 400 community residents attended the Planning Commission Barn meeting and needless to say, were not receptive to Microsoft's presentation.  Hours of public comments took the meeting until 1:30am, with 2 Board members leaving before it's conclusion.

• June 4 - No Data Center community event held with hundreds in attendance to learn about the timeline for the development and recall petition. 

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​MAY 2026

• May 18 - Township board voted against the proposed 6-month moratorium, 01-2026R.  This means Microsoft's application will proceed through the rezoning and zoning ordinance amendment process.  A data-ordinance committee was proposed to be established which would include, at least 3 community members, and members of the Board.  This committee's objective is to draft an acceptable pathway for large scale data centers in Lowell.  Our position is that Lowell area residents do not want a Data Center to be developed at Covenant Business Park.  Therefore, we are not in favor of any processes or outcomes that pave a pathway for data center development in Lowell Township.   Burtt and Benedict were the only 2 Yea votes. Township Board voted to accept the Strategic Readiness Fund Grant of $16.5M from the Right Place, 3 Nea votes - Burtt, Benedict and Blough voting against it.  Township Board made a motion to establish a zoning ordinance committee which would include 3 members of the public.  The objective of the committee is to come up with a zoning ordinance for Data Center.  We do not want a data center in Lowell.  Ronda Benedict announced that she will be resigning from her post as the Board - Planning Commission appointee.

• May 17 - Department of energy issues an emergency order to activate "customer-owned backup generation facilities" that are connected to the grid to mitigate the risk of black outs during unseasonable warm temperatures affecting the PJM interconnection grid Order No. 202-26-23.  If the Department of Energy issued an emergency order to activate "customer-owned backup generation facilities" in the MISO grid and the Microsoft Data Center was built, the community would have zero recourse to stop the massive diesel generations running 24/7 and exceeding the 85-decibel protection, as defined in the rezoning application.

• May 11 - The Planning Commission has not still publicly disclosed that they have received a rezoning request and zoning ordinance text amendment from Microsoft.

• ​May 4 - PROPOSED 01-2026R - A draft ordinance to impose a temporary 6-month Moratorium on Date Centers was published on the township website.​

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APRIL 2026​

• April 15 - Gaines Township Planning Commission held a Public Hearing regarding Microsoft’s conditional rezoning application. Over 600 people were reported in attendance, with public comments lasting for hours and drawing late in the evening. The Planning Commission has not yet voted on the rezoning request.​

• April 13 - Microsoft resubmit their application to conditionally rezone Covenant Business Park from I-PUD to Light Industrial, and to add Data Center’s as a permitted land use in the light industrial zoning designation. It is anticipated that the Planning Commission will read this during their May 11 meeting and potentially hold a public hearing in June. The Planning Commission met at the Lowell High School and hosted their first live streamed event on the new Township YouTube channel, which should be available for community members in the future.  Township Treasurer Ronda Benedict said she will be introducing a 6-month moratorium at the April 20th board meeting and that they will hold a second reading during the May 18th Twp Board meeting, with a potential vote at that time. View the Moratorium language here

• April 3 - Consumers Energy announced another new rate hike case 7 days after last rate hike was approved.

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MARCH 2026

• March 30 - Jerry Hale said today that Microsoft had not yet submit an application in Lowell for conditional rezoning or otherwise. 

• March 28 - Members of the No Lowell Data Center group setup a booth at the Lowell EXPO to talk and listen to the community.  Informal polling results indicated 95% of attendees being against the Data Center development.

• March 27 - The Michigan Public Service Commission approved a $276.6 million rate increase for Consumers Energy.  Consumers Energy initially sought permission to raise rates by 13%.  Residential customer electricity rates will increase by 8.9% beginning May 1st. source

• March 22 - It was confirmed by Jerry Hale that an aquifer study was not conducted at Covenant Business Park, in spite of the Township and City falsely stating that “An aquifer study concluded there is limited water available at the development site”.

• March 18 - Microsoft applied for conditional rezoning at their property in Gaines; they additionally purchased 50 more acres and 3 residential properties.  The conditions set forth in their conditional rezoning application may offer a preview of the conditions that Lowell can expect.

• March 16 - An estimated 75 people attended and 20 people spoke at this meeting, it last just over 2 hours.  Lowell Twp Board Meeting - 2 Township Clerk and a Trustee were expected to tour an Arizona Data Center facility in March.  We hope to learn more about their observations at the April Planning Commission and Board meetings.  Several topics such as upgrades to allow for recorded meetings & accessibility access were discussed.

• March 9 - Lowell Twp Planning Commission Meeting - This was the first time the planning commission held a public meeting since November 2025.  The Dec, Jan and Feb meeting minutes were approved.  The approved minutes deleted Microsoft’s original rezoning application from the public record, as though it were never brought forth..  A saved a copy can be found here.

• March 5 - The same representatives from Microsoft held an open house in Lowell at the Fairway of Kent County.  It was verbally confirmed they have been working on this development for the last ~2 years.  Microsoft released the first conceptual drawing of the site plan, which included an new building between Morse Lake and Snow Ave, putting the estimated campus building count at 6.  At 250MW, this campus would consume >2x more electricity that all Kent County residents.

• March 3 - Microsoft held an open house in Gaines Township.  About 12 tables were setup in a U shape, each with a Microsoft representative speaking about various aspects of data center developments, the majority of the representatives were from out of state.