Pritzker open to ‘fair’ data center development, local moratoriums

By Sean Reed | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – After legislation to heavily restrict the development of new data centers across Illinois failed to progress in the legislature, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signaled Monday he is more than open to projects – but only if corporations pay for the impacts the developments bring.

Pritzker said Monday that he isn’t against data center developments in Illinois, but said project developers should pay for their own power and taxes, reiterating his previous statements on the matter.

“We would demand that data center operators pay for their own power, making sure that they’re either bringing power with them or they’re paying rates that would make sure that no one in the area is paying a higher rate than they would otherwise,” Pritzker said.

The comment reflects a bill that he urged the General Assembly to get over the finish line, known as the POWER Act, which ultimately failed to get the required traction needed to pass.

The Data Center Coalition, a group representing the interests of companies within the industry, posed opposition to the POWER Act last month. Brad Tietz, a representative of the coalition, told state lawmakers in a hearing that the legislation would’ve significantly hindered economic development in the state.

“Every data center is different. They have different purposes, different workloads, and activities occurring in them and different customers,” Tietz said.

The law was ultimately tabled, though efforts to revive it are likely in the coming fall veto session.

The governor also said any total ban on data centers should be left up to residents and governments at a local level.

“I think locals, people in the local community, should have more say about the siting of where those data centers go because unless they’re incredibly well built, they produce a lot of noise,” Pritzker said. “I’m not opposed to local governments deciding that [a moratorium is] what they want to do. That the local residents decide ‘we don’t want any.’ That’s OK.”

A recent executive action by Pritzker imposed a moratorium on tax credits for projects, which has not gone over well with some trade unions in the state.

The tax credits to data center operators, according to a 2024 state report, was estimated to be a lifetime benefit of a little less than $1 billion between just 27 data centers that brought 591 new permanent jobs.

The Illinois AFL-CIO stated they’ll be deferring endorsements for the midterm elections this fall in part due to the impact a pause on data center tax credits will have on their workers – among many of their other legislative priorities falling to the wayside in Springfield this year.