HOWELL TWP., MI — Residents got fiery at a packed Howell Township board meeting, calling for more transparency and urging local officials to stop a tech giant from transforming rural land.

What’s causing the uproar? A controversial proposal for a $1 billion hyperscale data center to power artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

The data center project — reportedly backed by Facebook and Instagram owner Meta — is seeking to rezone more than 1,000 acres of mostly agricultural land in Howell Township.

The development team, which has not yet publicly disclosed what Big Tech company they are working for, has promised big benefits to the community. They say the data center would generate tax revenue and jobs and there would be opportunities to fund schools, infrastructure projects and

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