Illinois Is Taking a Close Look at the Potential Effects of the Data Center Boom

In Sangamon County, Illinois, Lori McKiernan, representing the Coalition for Springfield’s Utility Future, is spearheading an initiative to halt a proposed $500 million data center development by CyrusOne. The 280-acre project, slated for agricultural land, has garnered both local support and significant community apprehension regarding its potential environmental impact and effects on electricity costs. McKiernan emphasizes her concerns stem from the scale and implications of modern AI-driven data centers, a departure from her earlier experience in the industry. The Sangamon County Board is scheduled to vote on the final approval for CyrusOne's conditional use permit on March 23, 2026. This vote follows a public hearing in December 2025, where community members, including union worker Gary Shultz, voiced worries about noise and air pollution. The Coalition previously sought a county-wide moratorium on data centers, which the Zoning and Land Use Commission rejected in February 2026. Concurrently, Illinois state legislators are actively debating the Illinois POWER Act, a bill aimed at regulating data center development by requiring developers to provide their own clean energy generation and prevent infrastructure costs from burdening consumers. This legislative push follows Governor JB Pritzker’s February announcement of a two-year moratorium on tax incentives for data centers. Experts like Scott Allen from the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois highlight the widespread public concern across the state regarding data centers and their utility impacts. A key point of contention is electricity and water usage. While CyrusOne and the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative (RECC) assure Sangamon County residents that electricity bills will not rise, drawing parallels to Virginia, opponents cite cases like Dominion Energy's rate hikes in Virginia amidst data center expansion. On water, CyrusOne plans to use closed-loop cooling, claiming water use comparable to an office building, but critics worry about indirect water consumption linked to increased energy demands. The proposed POWER Act includes provisions for water impact permits, transparency, and developer contributions to water infrastructure, reflecting the state's broader effort to manage the burgeoning data center industry.