Last spring, the forecasts started rolling in. An ice storm was coming, and it looked like it was going to wallop us.

I stopped by our warehouse to check in with the line crews. Nobody was standing around waiting to see how bad it would get. They were sharpening chainsaws, stocking trucks, and coiling wire. Operational readiness is in our DNA here at Cherryland.

For Cherryland, the storm turned out to be a lot milder than predicted. All that preparation for a punch that never really landed. But the preparation was still worthwhile.

That mindset is exactly how your cooperative is approaching one of the most talked-about topics in our industry right now: data centers.

You’ve probably seen the headlines. These massive computing facilities — the ones powering everything from artificial intelligence to your streaming service — use staggering amounts of electricity. A single hyperscale data center can use more power than every Cherryland member combined, several times over. As they spread across the country, they bring both real opportunity and real risk.

Today, developers are not knocking down our door. We are not actively discussing any data center development in our service territory. That makes it the perfect time to prepare in case they do.

Like every electric utility in Michigan, we’re legally required to serve a large facility if one decides to build here. That’s why we’ve spent this year developing policies aimed at protecting your interests.

These policies start by requiring non-refundable application fees to ensure we don’t spend staff time on speculative projects. If a developer is serious, and they pay the application fee, they will be required to cover all engineering studies and infrastructure upgrades needed to serve them. Additionally, they must pass strict financial screenings, put down significant collateral, and sign long-term contracts with real exit penalties — so if they ever walk away, they don’t leave you holding the bill.

In the spirit of these policies, Cherryland also recently signed onto a national ratepayer protection pledge, a White House initiative aimed at ensuring regular consumers do not subsidize the data center boom.

These requirements put structures in place to protect your interests, without slamming the door on development. A large electric load from a serious, financially sound company could actually benefit members by spreading our fixed costs across a bigger base and helping keep everyone’s rates stable. We’re not anti-growth. We’re anti-you-taking-on-the-risk.

Many developers will hang up the moment they hear how rigorous our requirements are. That’s fine by me. We’re not chasing this, but if the right opportunity ever knocks, we’ll answer from a position of strength.

Storm forecasts remind us not to panic, not to assume the worst, but to always be prepared. That’s how we show up for you when the storm hits and it’s how we’re approaching this one, whether it ever arrives or not.

Whatever is coming our way, your cooperative is ready.