Your Daily Guide

Joliet recently approved the construction of a massive AI data center — despite major protest. The move is the latest in what’s shaping up to be a big tech arms race.

Here’s how that’s playing out in Illinois.

• Wait … what IS a data center? Traditionally, data centers support a range of computing needs, including web hosting and cloud services. Data centers that support AI require even more processing power and, in turn, more water to remain cool.
• The Joliet site: Joliet City Council approved plans for a 795-acre, $20 billion data center on the outskirts of town, in unincorporated Jackson Township. It will be built by Dallas-based real estate company Hillwood Investment Properties, and Hillwood says it will cater to “the Googles, the Amazons, the Metas, the Oracles,” including AI services.
• Joliet backlash: Hundreds of protesters turned out to two days of public hearings in Joliet, citing public health, noise pollution concerns, and AI’s broader effect on nontech industries. In spite of the pushback, just one councilperson, Suzanna Ibarra, voted against the data center. “For years my district has carried the burden for industrialized development while receiving the least in funding and resources,” Ibarra said.
• Statewide backlash: Complaints over buzzing around one Aurora data center led the city to consider new regulations. Meanwhile, Pekin, Naperville, and Lisle all shot down data centers over opposition.
• Primed for data centers? Touting a large water supply — and tax breaks — Great Lakes states have lured in big data centers. Illinois is now among the states with the most data centers in the country. However, fears around overextraction are pushing lawmakers to slow down. THE POWER Act would establish sweeping protections that shift energy costs from Illinois consumers to companies and safeguard against water shortages, but it’s still in committee. In the meantime, Illinois has paused tax incentives for data center development, and its tight biometric privacy laws could be a sticking point for big tech.
• Looking ahead: By 2028, data centers are projected to use 12% of the country’s total electricity — nearly triple what they used in 2023. In Illinois, plans to build a new center in Yorkville recently passed, and construction is already underway on a center in South Loop. Then of course, there’s Gov. JB Pritzker's plan for a quantum campus on the Southeast Side. That’s another story.