POWEREDBYWHO
· STATE FILE · IL
EIA RATE DATA AS OF 2026-02
FOLLOW THE MONEY IN
Illinois
37 data-center projects on file — 8.9 GW of nameplate capacity, $45.1B in announced investment. Federal data on what residents are paying for the grid to serve them, sourced from the EIA Electric Power Monthly.
Avg residential bill
$128
/ month
Per household · 2026-02
Sales to industrial
28.8%
of state kWh
Factories + data centers · 2026-02
Residential rate rank
#17
of 51
Mid-pack on residential price
10yr rate climb
+45%
#16 of 51
Tracking the national curve since 2016
Largest power plant
2.33 GW
· nuclear
Braidwood Generation Station · Will County
§ 01
What residents pay
EIA · Electric Power Monthly
Illinois · residential · latest
17.83¢/kWh
↑ +8.3% YoY
As of Single month · 2026-02
Illinois · residential · 2026 YTD avg
17.05¢/kWh
↑ +5.9% YoY
vs 2025 YTD
US national · residential · 2026 YTD avg
17.54¢/kWh
↑ +8.5% YoY
vs 2025 YTD
§ 02
How the grid runs
Net generation · 2026-02
Where Illinois's electricity actually comes from. Each fuel source as a share of total state generation in the most recent reported month.
ILLINOIS · GENERATION MIX · 2026-02
14.87 TWh net · all sectors
§ 03
Supply vs demand
EIA-860M generator inventory · projects pipeline
Illinois is staring at an 1.0 GW energy shortfall: 8.7 GW of data-center load is under construction or permitted in the state, but utilities have only 7.6 GW of new generation in the EIA-860M pipeline to serve it. (For scale, the state's already-running data-center load is 28 MW.) The largest plant in the supply pipeline is Steward Creek Solar Phase 1 in Lee County — 1.2 GW of solar, first online 2029-12. On the way out: Baldwin Energy Complex — 1.2 GW of coal, retiring 2027-12.
Two bars, one scale. Demand is sorted by certainty — under construction first, then permitted, then proposed. The dashed rule marks where the supply pipeline runs out; everything to the right of it is demand on file with no supply filed against it.
§ 04
Data-center load
37 projects
Projects on file
37
published (excludes draft / archived)
Nameplate MW
8.94 GW
≈ 39 GWh/yr at 50% load
Announced investment
$45.1B
aggregate disclosed capex
§ 05
Local voices on data centers
6 statements
CONCERN · 2025-02
“We need to pause data center tax incentives and study how this growth affects power generation and whether infrastructure costs could shift to ratepayers.”
— Gov. JB Pritzker (D)SOURCE ↗
CONCERN · 2025-04
“As data centers continue to multiply, they are putting an incredible strain on the grid. We want a better sense of their water and energy usage and how it will impact costs, consumer prices and consumption.”
— State Sen. Steve Stadelman (D)SOURCE ↗
OPPOSE · 2026-03
“The American people are already struggling to keep up with the rising costs of groceries, housing, health care and more — the last thing they need is to foot the bill for data center energy costs.”
— Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D)
§ 06
Industry money in Illinois
4 PACs active
Tracked super PACs that have spent in races for federal seats in Illinois this cycle. Crypto, AI, and energy-aligned committees are surfaced separately so the industry source of each dollar is legible.
FAIRSHAKE
CRYPTOCoinbase / Ripple / a16z
FOR
—
AGAINST
$13.3M
FILINGS
41
THINK BIG
AILeading the Future network
FOR
§ 07
Follow the money in Illinois
Know when a new data center deal gets cut, who profits, and who signed off on it.
Follow the money in IL
Know when a new data center deal gets cut, who profits, and who signed off on it.