Mahomet Village discusses 10-month confidential data center talks with developer, draft agreements worth $17 million
Mahomet Village officials have been in confidential, preliminary talks for 10 months with data center developer Clean Cloud Energy regarding a proposed 340-acre project called 'Rising Edge'. Draft agreements include annexation of farmland, rezoning to industrial, and a potential $17.35 million financial contribution from the developer. Discussions have addressed environmental concerns like the Mahomet Aquifer and demands on the electric grid.
Mahomet Village Administrator Patrick Brown, along with other village staff, engaged in 10 months of confidential, preliminary discussions with data center developer Clean Cloud Energy regarding a proposed 340-acre project known as "Rising Edge." Despite Brown's earlier denial of knowledge about a data center proposal in November 2025, records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show nondisclosure agreements were signed in December 2025 and January 2026.
The draft annexation and development agreement, sent by the Village in April, contemplated rezoning the farmland in unincorporated Mahomet Township from agricultural to an I-1 Planned Industrial District. Clean Cloud Energy's proposed revisions in July included capping its aggregate financial contributions at $17.35 million, with $10 million contingent on a separate payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement involving the Village and Mahomet-Seymour Community Unit School District No. 3.
Discussions also addressed potential community concerns. Economic-development specialist Austin Shufflebarger raised questions about impacts on the Mahomet Aquifer, nearby forest preserves, job creation, and electric grid demands. The developer proposed a reclaimed-water system for cooling and emphasized the project's distance from residential areas. The Village noted any formal proposal would undergo public review, including opportunities for input and hearings, with a focus on aquifer protection, closed-loop cooling, and mitigating light and noise.
The nondisclosure agreements were formally released in September, with Clean Cloud acknowledging they could not limit the Village's obligations under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The Village stated that talks remain "strictly preliminary and exploratory," with no formal proposal yet submitted to the Board of Trustees.