Data centers in Kalkaska County, Michigan: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Kalkaska County's data center rose and fell in the autumn of 2025. Matt Rine, a Traverse City geologist whose company Rocklocker is a subsidiary of the oil and gas firm Reefworks, proposed a gigawatt-scale campus on 1,440 acres of state land near Island Lake and South River roads. It would have had its own natural gas power plant with carbon capture and storage. Rine called Kalkaska a "bullseye": "Basically it has all the ingredients that you need for a data center project to be co-located with a power plant," he said. "You need high voltage electrical lines, need gas transmission lines, you need public support." He estimated more than $40 million a year in tax revenue. Local officials were keen. The county commission, Kalkaska Township board and others sent letters of support. "The proposed data center project presents a rare opportunity for Kalkaska County to expand its tax base, create quality jobs, and fund long-overdue improvements in our community," said Township Supervisor John Arnold. Rine himself said: "It would be a different Kalkaska in 10 years, that's for sure."

The land was the problem. More than half the county is owned by the Department of Natural Resources, and in July 2025 the department rejected Rine's request to buy the site. "We have heard strong opposition from conservation stakeholders to any conversion of state-managed public lands for this use," it wrote, "and to date have received no letters of support from legislators for this proposed use of state-managed public lands." Residents started a "Say No to the Data Center" website and petition. Heather Smith of The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay warned that some data centers "withdraw large amounts of groundwater for data center cooling needs that may stress aquifers." In November, state Sen. Michele Hoitenga said she had "received assurances that public lands will not be sold for the data center's development." Within days Rine withdrew, saying it "became clear through these discussions that pursuing a data center development on public lands is not feasible or appropriate at this time, and Rocklocker will no longer be pursuing this project."

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.