SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) – Advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are committed to getting data center regulations across the finish line during veto session. Many believe the POWER Act needs to pass as soon as possible.
Illinois has provided millions of dollars in tax credits to data centers since 2019, but Gov. JB Pritzker said AI data centers didn’t exist back then.
“What we now see is these hyper-scale massive data centers where they want to take an entire nuclear power plant offline and apply it to a data center that might be many millions of square feet,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker said big tech companies need to bring their own clean energy, pay their fair share for power and use closed-loop water systems. The POWER Act could also establish consumer protection and pollution control policies.
Some believe local governments should decide where facilities can be located and prevent data centers from being approved within three miles of residential communities.
“They’re still on our grid,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna). “They’re still using our energy, and they’re reaping the benefits that are coming to communities. There again, it has to be the community’s decision of whether or not they want them.”
The Illinois Environmental Council said communities have been trying to make major decisions about data centers on their own without proper resources. IEC CEO Jen Walling said the POWER Act would ban NDAs for data centers and require full and transparent access to any agreements signed.
“I think that this has more political power and urgency behind it in getting things done than anything that I’ve ever seen in Springfield,” Walling said. “I think that people all over the state, bipartisan basis, are pushing legislators to act.”
Walling and McCombie note that Illinois will continue to learn new information about data centers, so it is likely multiple plans will need to be passed to address issues that pop up over the next decade.
State lawmakers return to Springfield Nov. 17 and only have six days of veto session. They could finalize data center regulations during lameduck session in early January if they fail to pass a bill this fall.
