The state's inaction on new data center rules has prompted McLean County government to consider restrictions that would be the most stringent in Illinois.
Lea Cline chairs the county board's Land Use and Transportation Committee. Cline drafted the rules which the committee unanimously endorsed last week and the county board will consider next month.
They would require data center companies to provide their own electricity and account for their water use.
Cline said she proposed the new rules because she's not convinced state lawmakers are going to adopt any restrictions soon.
“I think for sure the state is going to do something about data centers this session,” Cline said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “What that’s going to be and how that’s going to look is really anybody’s guess. I felt a little too uncertain to just walk away.”
The most prominent piece of data center legislation in Springfield, the POWER Act, would require data centers to pay for their own energy and infrastructure. Data centers also would have to report to track and report their water use.
Energy and water consumption are two of the biggest concerns critics of data centers have raised.
Legislators have been proposing revisions to the bill, and it has not yet been called for a vote.
McLean County already has greatly restricted where data centers can be built. They can only be approved in manufacturing areas via special use permit, and not on existing farmland.
The additions Cline proposed specify that data center operators must provide the amount of electricity needed and detail how they intend to reduce impacts on electrical infrastructure and what renewable energy sources they plan to incorporate. Facilities would also have to notify the county if its energy needs increase by more than 20%.
The county’s proposed policy requires data center operators to demonstrate how their facilities would not “adversely impact” the area water supply.
The county would also call for any data center operator to be responsible for “reasonable costs” of infrastructure improvements and repairs caused by constriction and operation of the facility.
The revisions also call for the data center operator to provide a decommissioning plan and demonstrate how the site would be restored once operations have ceased.
Many of the county’s revisions echo concerns that are addressed in the POWER Act. Cline said if state laws are passed that are less stringent that the county, the county would be prepared to scale back its rules to stay in compliance.
So far, Cline said the county has not been approached by any data center company, and she hopes the guidelines the county already has adopted are serving as a deterrent.
“I think there is a possibility that sometime down the line that there will be a data center that will meet our standards. The point though is to put in standards that reflect what we value as a community,” she said.
Moratoriums
Cline stressed she’s not looking for a short-term fix like a moratorium, which Champaign County recently did.
“I don’t think they are honest to the constituents because people decide, 'Oh well, we have a moratorium, I can stop worrying, I can stop speaking out, I can stop being active about this issue,' when it’s actually the time you need to be most active,” Cline said.
The county plans to hold two public hearings on the rules changes. The first will be at Zoning Board of Appeals on June 2. The county board will also accept public comment during its June 11 meeting when the board expects to take a final vote.
Local, federal perspective
Cline said the controversy around data centers has largely united Democrats and Republicans locally because they both worry how they could drain resources and by a nuisance for those who would live near them.
Several prominent Democrats, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, have both suggested data center technology is improving and their proliferation is inevitable in response to the growth of artificial intelligence.
Cline, a Democrat, said she fears some counties and cities that are financially strapped because of industrial declines will be enticed by financial promises.
“Then it becomes a question about money and not about what does the community value and what does the community want,” Cline said.
Bloomington city officials, who have acknowledged receiving inquires from at least one data center company, say they are working on proposed guidelines for data centers and hosted two public forums on the matter.
Normal Mayor Chris Koos has said the town has not seen any interest from data center companies.
