Mike Rogers calls for 1-year data center moratorium

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP nominee in a critical Senate battle in Michigan, on Thursday called for a one-year pause on data center construction, the latest sign of the political toxicity of the server warehouses fueling the AI boom. Rogers said in a statement that he is pushing for a yearlong moratorium on new data centers “until we establish a fair, transparent approval process that puts local communities first.” “While I don't support a federal ban, Michigan needs stronger guardrails to protect community control, prevent utility price hikes, protect our water and stop pay-to-play schemes,” he added. His opponent, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, has previously waded into the data center debate, putting forward a series of “terms of engagement” for new projects. This includes requiring developers to cover any increased energy costs and commit to using closed-loop cooling systems. “Unless and until we have those terms of engagement at the federal level, I stand with local and state elected officials saying that we cannot approve any more of these until we have federal level guardrails,” El-Sayed said in July during an appearance alongside local organizers at a data center construction site. The Michigan race is critical to both parties' hopes of holding the Senate majority in the next Congress. Democrats need to pick up four seats to win the majority, but that is assuming they hold on to the Michigan seat that retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D) now holds. Data centers are …