Rep. Bill Huizenga’s votes show he put data centers and coal plants over constituents

Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Holland) has voted to support Trump’s AI race—and data shows it could cost Michiganders a lot of money.

Lucas Henkel

October 6, 2026

Despite growing environmental concerns from community members, Rep. Bill Huizenga says he wants to keep the JH Campbell and Palisades plants running. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga says he’ll fight to keep money in Michiganders’ wallets if re-elected on Nov. 3, in the race against state Sen. Sean McCann for 4th District representation in Congress. As polls show the two men within one point of each other, The ‘Gander is tracking down receipts to see if the politicians’ rhetoric matches their records.

In 2025, alongside other Michigan Republicans, Huizenga supported the Trump administration’s reconciliation bill, which cut Medicaid coverage for 15,000 residents in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District—the one Huizenga represents—which includes Allegan, Van Buren, northern Berrien and Kalamazoo counties, and portions of Ottawa and Calhoun counties.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill,” or OBBBA, also scaled back clean energy investments established during the Biden administration and paved the way for new data center construction nationwide—including in Michigan—as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing plan to have the US lead the “golden age” of artificial intelligence.

Experts say this data center construction, along with powering the data centers once they’re built, won’t just strain the area’s electrical supply. It’ll also strain Michiganders’ wallets, with expected yearly utility bills rising by $300. This is expected to further impact low-income Michiganders, who are already reeling after Huizenga and other Republicans supported a 2025 appropriations bill that eliminated federal funding for a Department of Energy program that helped their households increase energy efficiency and reduce energy bills.

The push for data center construction has also narrowed jobs and investment into the state’s clean energy infrastructure. New data shows that, since Trump was re-elected in 2024, over 8,000 jobs and over $1.7 billion in investment in Michigan’s clean energy sector have been cancelled or delayed.

Huizenga has also publicly supported the Trump administration’s executive order to keep the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive open despite a state-approved plan to close the facility to expand renewable energy and pushback from his constituents and other Michiganders.

“We need to use addition, not subtraction, to assert American energy dominance. Now is not the time to close power generating facilities,” Huizenga wrote on social media.

According to financial filings, Trump’s executive order has cost Michigan taxpayers over $260 million to keep the plant online.

Huizenga will face Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann during the general election on Nov. 3. To check your voter registration, see your ballot, or find your polling location, go to gandernewsroom.com/voter-registration.

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