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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.
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