Data Center

Mayor Chris Koos says the town's decision to extend a six-month moratorium through next spring would help it prepare for any new state regulations that could come this fall.

City Manager Jeff Jurgens said the drafts will be available to the public on Oct. 9. The planning commission will meet at 4 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts . Another meeting is planned for Nov. 16 at the same time.

A new study predicts data centers expected to be built in Illinois over the next decade would create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in new property tax revenue.

How much potential water exists in Bloomington-Normal and McLean County is difficult to tell. Experts tell WGLT the lack of understanding and potential differences in each and every data center's need for water make it impossible to say how much one would need or use.

The council heard positive results from an annual audit presentation and extended Normal's data center moratorium during its Monday night meeting.

The town council will vote Monday on a plan to extend the moratorium on accepting any data center permits through May 2027.

At the Bloomington Public Library on Wednesday, residents heard about the reasons behind the rising costs of energy from Nick Hylla, executive director of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association [MREA].

The Bloomington city manager said a long public forum on data centers this week was just the early part of the discussion about data center policy.

Gov. JB Pritzker said he doesn't want to see McLean County farmland given up for data centers. He said the state should be pumping the brakes on the industry rather than rolling out the red carpet for it.

A panel on both sides of the data center debate answered questions for three hours Wednesday night as at least a couple hundred people listened intently.