ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – A sweeping proposal for regulating data centers in Illinois struggles to reach the finish line in Springfield.
The Illinois General Assembly wraps its spring session May 31, creating a whirlwind week of debate and votes on items like the state budget and a bill for the Chicago Bears football stadium in Arlington Heights.
One proposal that may sit on the back burner is the POWER Act, short for Protecting Our Water and Energy Resources.
The bill sets guidelines for data center development. Such restrictions include the requirement of impact assessments, community benefit agreements, water impact permits and banning nondisclosure agreements from governments.
Introduced in February, the 638-page legislation has yet to see a vote by Illinois Senate or House members.
“There’s still a lot of work to do,” said State Rep. Dave Vella (D-Rockford). “It’s a very complicated issue.”
As of May 27, no Rockford-area lawmakers are signed on as sponsors of the POWER Act, but Vella signals his support for some form of its proposals.
“This is a very good start,” he affirmed, “and I think a lot of what’s in the POWER Act is going to end up becoming law.”
The Democrat warned of rushing the law through without thorough consideration.
“What we don’t want to do is move in too fast away and make bad law… I’ve seen bad law ends up making bad results for everybody in the community.”
Vella mentioned he’s attended community meetings concerning the possibility of a data center in Rockford.
“They don’t want these data centers coming in and raising their rates, ruining their environment and ruining the communities.”
He added his first priority in any legislation would be to address electricity usage as well as impact on water resources.
“It’s very important that people’s bills don’t go out. That’s number one,” asserted Vella.
State Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) cast doubt on the POWER Act’s future.
“Right now, it’s dead,” he concluded.
Without the bill’s assignment to a committee, Cabello mentioned he’s unsure of how serious to take the bill.
“We haven’t really gone through it because it’s not going anywhere. So, we’re working on all the things that made it out of rules and made it out of committees.”
If the bill becomes law, Cabello anticipates an impact on tech companies’ consideration to develop in Illinois.
“Let’s say they’ve decided, ‘Well, we’re going to go build it in Wisconsin.’ Well, guess what? We’re still going to be paying for it because we’re still in the same market,” said Cabello. “It’s still going to cost all of our people money.”
Although Springfield’s spring session ends Sunday, the POWER Act — or any data center regulation — can return for a vote in mid-October, as the veto session begins.
“We got to figure this out,” contended Cabello.
Vella expects data center regulation to arrive in one form or another from state lawmakers. He suggested tech companies can still consider Illinois despite the lack of a statewide framework for development.
“Even if they do come in before that, we can still put guardrails around them, and we will.”
The Illinois Environmental Council plans a lobby day in the state capitol for the POWER Act. That will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30.
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