Major bills in both the Illinois Senate and House may heavily regulate data centers in the state. With the proposal spanning hundreds of pages, both those in favor and against the bill have significant arguments.
The bill would expand what permits data centers will be required to obtain, require them to report their energy use, pay into community funds and plan to save water and while bringing new energy capacity to the grid, according to State Rep. Carol Ammons.
Andrew Rehn, representing a member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, said water consumption by data centers could leave Illinoisans without vital resources.
Joe Duffy of Climate Jobs Illinois said his group opposes the bill because it doesn’t ensure clean energy projects required by the bill to be built alongside new centers would stay in Illinois and use union labor.
With a little more than two weeks remaining in the spring legislative session, lawmakers will continue to hear arguments for and against the matter before a possible vote.
Story from Illinois Radio Network
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