Illinois's Data Center Debate: Two Votes, Three Days Apart, Two Very Different Outcomes
Illinois is in the middle of a real reckoning over data centers, and if you needed proof, you got it in the span of three days at the end of March 2026. One county approved the largest proposed data center in state history after a six-and-a-half-hour hearing that ran past midnight. Another county voted to table a $500 million project after 700 residents showed up to oppose it. Meanwhile, Springfield is moving on its own front. The picture that emerges is not one of a state that has figured out what it wants to do with data centers. It is one of a state that is improvising in real time.
Here is where things stand.
Joliet: 795 Acres, 24 Buildings, One Dissenting Vote
On March 20, 2026, the Joliet City Council voted 8-1 to approve a project that would cover 795 acres of active farmland in south Joliet with 24 data center buildings. The developer is Hillwood Development Company, a Texas-based firm operating through an entity called HW Technology Park Development LLC. The project has been described as a roughly $20 billion AI data center campus, with a target completion date somewhere around 2030.
The lone no vote was Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra. The meeting ran so long that the council had to adjourn before completing its business — Illinois law prohibits public meetings from continuing into election day, and the hearing pushed past midnight.
Residents who showed up to oppose the project raised a predictable but legitimate list of concerns: rising electricity rates, water consumption, noise from cooling infrastructure, and what happens when a facility with this kind of power demand competes with homes and businesses for grid capacity during a hot summer. Those concerns did not persuade the majority.
An 8-1 approval vote is decisive. But approval does not mean construction starts tomorrow or that all the legal and regulatory questions are behind anyone. A facility of this scale requires transmission upgrades, utility easements, and infrastructure that will need its own regulatory proceedings at the Illinois Commerce Commission and elsewhere. Landowners anywhere near the planned site or its associated utility corridors are not spectators in this process.
Sangamon County: 700 Residents, a 15-13 Vote, and No Decision
Three days later, on March 23, the Sangamon County Board voted 15-13 to table a decision on CyrusOne's proposed $500 million data center on 280 acres of farmland outside Springfield.
The opposition here was substantial and organized. More than 700 residents attended the board meeting, the majority there to oppose the project. The concerns mirrored those raised in Joliet — grid strain, utility cost increases for residential customers, and noise. A member of the Coalition for Springfield's Utility Future raised the issue of low-frequency noise from data center cooling equipment, arguing it creates long-term health hazards for neighboring properties.
A tabled vote is not a defeat for the developer. CyrusOne's project is still active, and the board will eventually have to vote on it. The 15-13 margin on the tabling motion suggests this one is going to be close when it comes back around.
What Springfield Is Doing About It
While local governments are wrestling with individual project decisions, the Illinois General Assembly is trying to get ahead of the broader pattern. Lawmakers introduced the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) in March 2026. The bill would require data center developers to submit clean energy supply plans before they can receive a firm, uninterrupted connection to the existing grid. The policy goal is to push developers to secure their own renewable capacity rather than simply drawing down a grid that was not designed for loads of this size.
Governor Pritzker added another variable: he announced a two-year suspension of the state tax incentives that have been driving data center investment in Illinois, effective July 1, 2026. That is a meaningful change for developers who have been running their financial models with those incentives baked in.
The Illinois Commerce Commission has also acted. In early 2026, the ICC approved a new ComEd tariff structure designed specifically for large data center loads — a sign that regulators are no longer treating data centers as just another commercial customer category.
Why This Matters If You Own Land Near Any of This
Data centers are not self-contained. They need power, and lots of it, which means new substations and transmission lines. They need water for cooling. They need access roads and other infrastructure. All of that infrastructure has to go somewhere, and it generally crosses someone's land.
Whether a project is in Joliet, outside Springfield, or somewhere else in Illinois, landowners in the path of associated utility infrastructure have legal rights that are worth understanding before anyone asks them to sign anything. Utility companies and developers approach landowners with easement offers, and the initial offer is rarely the strongest one available. If a project moves forward over a landowner's objection, eminent domain proceedings give landowners the right to contest both the taking itself and the compensation offered.
Jonathan Phillips helps those facing a potential data center project, a transmission line, pipeline, or any other infrastructure development. If one is heading toward your property and you want to understand your options, reach out.