Logan County board to revisit moratorium on data centers

Logan County, Illinois, is making progress on a new data center ordinance as its current moratorium on data center projects is nearing its end. According to Alan Green, the Logan County zoning officer and planning director, the ordinance aims to introduce restrictions on all data center projects within the county. These proposed restrictions include parameters for energy generation, the type of properties used for data centers, and noise levels. Green stated that the ordinance is intended to provide a starting point for the county to evaluate future data center applications and ensure certain conditions are met before an application is even brought forward, thereby protecting the county's interests. He clarified that the approval of this ordinance would not mean the approval of a specific data center, as no formal applications are currently under review. The ordinance is scheduled to go before the planning committee and the zoning board of appeals next week, with a potential inclusion on the county board agenda the following week. Hut 8 data center officials have provided some recommendations for the ordinance, which the county would need to agree to. Concurrently, the Logan County board is set to hold a special meeting to discuss the extension of the existing moratorium. If the moratorium is allowed to expire, new data center applications would not be accepted until at least June, and only after the new ordinance has been passed.