The Great Lakes hold nearly 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater, making them a resource of national and international importance. They power regional economies, support shipping routes vital to global trade, and provide drinking water to 40 million people across the U.S. and Canada. Safeguarding the Great Lakes is not only essential for the communities that rely on them daily, but also for the stability of North America’s environment, economy, and international partnerships.
Fresh is a weekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every Wednesday.
— Christian Thorsberg, Fresh Editor
Weekly Watershed
- Energy company NextEra announced partnerships with Google, Meta, and ExxonMobil to build at least 15 GW of power generation for data centers over the next decade.
- New York has unveiled a new campaign to combat road salt pollution, which threatens thousands of miles of waterways across the state.
- Roughly three-fourths of all water withdrawals in Wisconsin last year came from power generation, according to the DNR’s annual report.
- State legislators in Michigan have introduced a new bill to formalize a shoreline protection plan within the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
Fresh from the Great Lakes News Collaborative
- Controversial B.C. gold and silver mine in Tahltan territory faces make-or-break vote — The Narwhal
- Gretchen Whitmer urges speed, critics want slowdown on Michigan data center — Bridge Michigan
- The Fight to Save Lake Whitefish — Great Lakes Now
- Landfills sue Wolverine Worldwide and 3M over PFAS contamination — Michigan Public
Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public and The Narwhal work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.
The Lead
NextEra: The Florida-based energy company, whose current operating portfolio totals 76 gigawatts (GW) nationally, announced a slew of investments this week to help bring data centers online over the next decade.
The company shared plans to build 15 GW of new power generation for data centers by 2035, and then advertised strategic partnerships with Google, Meta, and ExxonMobil “to transform the energy sector, supporting accelerated buildouts of data centers and the energy infrastructure supporting them.”
NextEra has already identified 20 sites of future data center campuses, a number that could double by 2026. The company did not disclose where this new infrastructure would be built, and which energy sources would be used to power them, though NextEra does have an existing target of adding at least 20 GW of natural gas to their capacity — including between 4 GW and 8 GW by 2032 — in the near future. As part of this buildout, the company announced in October that it would be restarting the 615-megawatt Duane Arnold nuclear plant, based in Iowa. The site, which shuttered in 2020, expects to be up and running by 2029.
“We’re in the golden age of power demand,” NextEra CEO John Ketchum said during an investors day in New York this week.
The Great Lakes basin has become a new hotspot for data center development and subsequent energy needs. In recent months, OpenAI and Oracle have advanced plans to construct a $15 billion campus in Port Washington, Wisconsin, and a $7 billion campus south of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Amazon opened an $11 billion campus in New Carlisle, Indiana, and announced $15 billion of further investment in the state’s northwestern counties. Meta is continuing to expand operations at its campus in New Albany, Ohio, where its investment now totals $1.5 billion.
A single gigawatt can power between 750,000 and 1 million homes for one year.
Of NextEra’s current 76 GW operating portfolio, 57 percent comes from renewable sources; 34 percent from natural gas; 8 percent nuclear; and 1 percent coal.
In Context: National AI Boom Hits Home as Demand for Power Surges
In the News
Don’t Be Salty, New York: The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced a new campaign to limit the overapplication of road salt to its streets and highways this winter — a practice known to pollute watersheds when the chemical washes into streams, rivers, and other sources of recreation and drinking water.
The effort is supported in large part by the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force, which was established in 2020 to evaluate how road salt application affected waters in Adirondack Park, a state park which stretches just 20 miles south of the St. Lawrence River. The group’s 2023 report determined that 193,000 tons of salt are applied each winter to the park’s road network, threatening more than 3,600 miles of rivers and streams, 800 lakes and ponds, and 43,000 private wells with direct runoff.
Nearly 17,000 homes within the park are also at risk of pipe and plumbing damage. Across the country, per the U.S. EPA, the corrosive effects of salt are the impetus for $5 billion in infrastructural and vehicular repairs per year.
Senate Bill 6976, introduced by New York state legislators in March, aimed to establish a road salt reduction council and advisory committee to implement best management practices as recommended by the task force. The bill passed the Senate in June though it was effectively voided by the Assembly in September.
In Context: Road Salt, A Stealthy Pollutant, Is Damaging Michigan Waters
Wisconsin Water Withdrawals: This week, the state Department of Natural Resources released its 2024 Water Withdrawal Report, summarizing the last year’s activities.
According to the report, Wisconsin’s cities, agricultural operations, businesses, industry and power generation facilities withdrew almost 1.7 trillion gallons from groundwater and surface water sources in 2024, the equivalent of just over 1 percent of the volume of Lake Michigan.
Power generation was far and away the thirstiest sector, counting for 73 percent of all withdrawals, though total consumption was down compared to 2023.
“While Wisconsin’s overall water use has remained relatively consistent over the past decade, shifts in local demand often require careful consideration of water efficiency, as well as resource availability and long-term sustainability,” said Adam Freihoefer, DNR water use section manager, in a press release. “Water withdrawal data continues to play an essential role in informing those discussions.”
Last year was also the state’s hottest on record, with 4 inches less rain compared to the 30-year average.
Looking Ahead
Michigan’s Shoreline Erosion: House representatives in the Michigan legislature have introduced a bill aiming to create a beach nourishment program in an effort to restore and conserve Lake Michigan shoreline.
House Bill 5304 would require that dredged material that passes environmental testing be placed uniformly along shorelines, and establish fines of $25 per cubic yard of dredged material that is not used for this purpose. The state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) would lead this initiative, managing a beach nourishment fund and ensuring that all projects benefit shores that are damaged by harbors and piers, protect critical municipal infrastructure, and create healthy beaches for the benefit of the public.
Crucially, projects that are approved to use dredged materials for beach nourishment would receive five-year permits and be subject to limited environmental assessments for that duration.
The bill, introduced last week in the Natural Resources and Tourism Committee, has received bipartisan support.
It comes several months after the introduction of the more controversial HB 4385, which would exempt environmental review processes for shoreline erosion control structures, including plastic bags, and has been met with significant pushback from environmental groups.
“These reviews for erosion control structures are not bureaucratic red tape; they are safeguards that help protect public access, fragile ecosystems, and the long-term stability of our coastline,” the Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter wrote in a news release this July.
Erosion remains a significant issue in Michigan, which has more than 3,200 miles of Great Lakes coastline. In some areas, according to EGLE, erosion rates can reach 17 feet per year.
You can find more stories from the Great Lakes region here.
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