Two gigawatt campuses approved in one week
On March 13, 2026, at 12:51 AM after a nearly six-hour meeting that exhausted opponents, the Yorkville City Council approved Project Cardinal -- a 1,800 MW data center campus developed by Pioneer Development spanning roughly 1,037 acres in Kendall County. The meeting was mostly filled with speakers against the project. Seven days later, on March 20, the Joliet City Council voted 8-1 to approve the Joliet Technology Center -- another 1,800 MW campus developed by PowerHouse and Hillwood covering 795 acres in Will County. That public hearing lasted 6.5 hours. The lone dissent came from Council member Suzanna Ibarra, who cited her district's history of absorbing a disproportionate share of industrial development.
That is 3,600 megawatts of data center capacity approved in a single week after marathon sessions designed to outlast the opposition. For context, 3,600 MW is enough to power roughly 2.7 million homes.
The pipeline keeps growing
Those two approvals are just the headline. CyrusOne is seeking approval for a 600 MW campus in Springfield, Sangamon County. T5 Data Centers has proposed a 1,200 MW campus in Grayslake, Lake County -- T5 Chicago IV. In Elk Grove Village, Cook County, STACK Infrastructure is building a 36 MW facility, TA Realty is constructing a 250 MW campus, Stream Data Centers razed 55 homes for a new campus, and T5 acquired a fifth Chicago-area site.
Prologis has proposed Project Steel, another campus in Yorkville. Edged Energy is planning a 96 MW facility in Aurora, Kane County. The Chicago metro data center market is experiencing what the industry calls a supply crunch -- and developers are racing to fill it.
Communities are winning fights
Not every project makes it through. In Barrington Hills, Brennan Investment Group withdrew its $2 billion data center proposal in January 2026 after a Change.org petition gathered over 1,300 signatures. The developer canceled a planned presentation to the plan commission before it even happened.
In Pekin, Mayor Mary Burress announced on March 9 that the city would not move forward with a proposed data center north of Lutticken Lake. The announcement drew thunderous applause. But the fight is not over -- the city had already signed a real estate purchase contract with the developer, Pekin I Developer LLC, for $4.5 million. On March 23, the city attorney warned the council they could face legal action if they reject the project before the zoning stage. The contract includes a cooperation clause that could expose the city to a lawsuit.
In Lisle, CloudCenters withdrew its 50 MW proposal on March 12 after over 300 residents overflowed a public hearing -- the proposed site was a contaminated former Lockformer Company property. In Naperville, the City Council voted 6-1 to reject Karis Critical's data center proposal outright.
Aurora enacted a 180-day moratorium on data centers and warehouses in September 2025, and new regulations heading to final vote on March 20 could be among the strictest in the country. Ogle County passed its own moratorium. McLean County restricted data centers to manufacturing zones only, blocking them from farmland and requiring developers to disclose water usage and energy consumption. Champaign County voted unanimously to form a data center task force and consider a one-year ban on facilities over 10,000 square feet.
Governor Pritzker announced a two-year suspension of state tax incentives for new data center developments, effective July 2026. The state's existing program gave $983 million in lifetime tax breaks to 27 data centers that created a total of 534 permanent jobs -- roughly $1.84 million per job.
The POWER Act and the crackdown
Illinois lawmakers have introduced the POWER Act (SB4016 / HB5513 -- Protecting Our Water, Energy and Ratepayers), targeting hyperscale facilities over 50 MW. The bill would require data centers to pay for their own energy infrastructure costs, report water usage publicly, and work with communities to reduce pollution. It remains in committee but has bipartisan support.
The Illinois Commerce Commission approved new ComEd deposit rules on March 19 requiring data center developers to put up $1 million or more per application, plus tens of millions in deposits for infrastructure buildout. This directly addresses concerns that speculative projects could strain the grid without following through on construction.
In Elk Grove Village, Stream Data Centers demolished 55 homes in the Roppolo subdivision to build a campus, paying roughly $950,000 per house. That is the kind of development communities are pushing back against -- entire neighborhoods erased for server farms.
The cost to ratepayers
Data centers were responsible for 63% of the price increase in PJM's 2025/2026 capacity auction, adding $9.3 billion in costs that will be recovered from customers across the 13-state PJM region in higher electric rates. Capacity prices jumped nearly nine-fold from 2024/2025 to 2025/2026.
Illinois sits within the PJM territory. That means Illinois ratepayers are already paying more because of data center demand across the grid -- before the 3,600 MW just approved in Joliet and Yorkville even comes online.
Forecast data center growth is projected to drive $163 billion in cumulative capacity costs through 2033 across PJM. The question Illinois residents should be asking: who pays for the grid upgrades these facilities require?
What you can do
Track every Illinois data center project on our interactive map at poweredbywho.com/map?state=IL. Sign up for email alerts and we will notify you when new projects are proposed near your zip code.
If your community is facing a data center proposal, attend public hearings and file comments. Ask for water usage disclosures, noise studies, and grid impact assessments. Contact your state representative about the POWER Act.
Have a tip about a project we are missing? Submit it at poweredbywho.com/tips.