For years, data centers remained out of our sight, although much of what we do on the Internet depends on them. In Dowagiac, a city in southwest Michigan, this infrastructure has become impossible to ignore: several residents claim that a facility dedicated to cryptocurrency mining and currently in the process of being converted has been emitting a high-pitched hum 24 hours a day since 2024. Now, as the company prepares the leap into computing for artificial intelligence and advanced robotics, the conflict shows the extent to which a digital installation can transform the daily lives of those who live around it.
unbearable noise. The story focuses on Louise Avenue, a dead-end street where Lindy Valenzuela and her husband and wife Marjorie and Billy Finn live right across the street from the compound, owned by Alliance Cloud Services LLC, a subsidiary of Hyperscale Data. According to what they told the American network WXYZ, for decades on the other side there was an industrial building hidden behind a row of pine trees, integrated into the daily landscape of the neighborhood. Neighbors date the change to 2018, when the trees disappeared and a loading dock was installed. Around 2021, a cryptocurrency mining operation began there and, three years later, the operation of the place began to feel different.
inside the houses. Valenzuela described the sound with a very specific comparison: “It sounds like having a vacuum cleaner in your living room (…) when the filter is clogged, so it makes a high-pitched whistle. And they left it on and left.” Its consequences appear in everyday gestures that were previously normal. The Finns say they can no longer open the windows like they used to, while Valenzuela says that staying outside for a few minutes on hot days can end up giving them a headache.
From complaints to the courts. The conflict ceased to be solely a neighborhood conflict in March 2026, when Dowagiac approved its first ordinance on industrial noise. The standard sets a maximum of 65 dB during the day and 55 dB at night, and the municipal official assured that the city had already sanctioned Hyperscale Data for failing to comply. The company, however, questions both the measurements and the method used. In parallel, Valenzuela appears as a plaintiff in a class action that accuses the operator of negligence and substantially interfering with the use and enjoyment of the homes.
The turn towards AI: Hyperscale Data has put figures to the transformation announced for the venue. Its CEO, William Horne, explained during an extraordinary meeting of the municipal council that the company plans to invest $100 million to expand computing for artificial intelligence and advanced robotics, while abandoning cryptocurrency mining. It has also acquired adjacent land that it intends to use as a natural separation strip to reduce the sound that reaches the homes. For now, however, local authorities say they have not received any permit requests for this expansion.
The answers. Among the responses offered by Hyperscale Data is the progressive shutdown of mining machinery, which the company hopes to complete over the next three months. The CEO went further and stated that they would buy the homes of those who still could not enjoy them. For those affected, this alternative does not resolve what these homes represent. For example, the Finn house has been in the family for almost 100 years and there they maintain their friendships and a support network that also helps Marjorie, diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
The case. What is happening in Dowagiac shows how a computer infrastructure can become very physical when it is installed next to homes and operates continuously. Data centers support services that we use every day. This expansion can provide investment and employment, although it can also increase the demand for electricity and water, the occupation of land and, in certain cases, the noise endured by the environment.
Images | Brett Sayles
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