Reporting by Nikoel Hytrek and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) for Capitol News Illinois:
Amid concerns about data centers’ impact on prices, electricity supplies and the environment, two Illinois lawmakers have introduced a bill to regulate new projects in Illinois.
The bill, called the POWER Act, establishes comprehensive environmental, water and energy regulations for “hyperscale” data centers. State Sen. Ram Villivalam is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, and state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, is the lead sponsor in the House.
“Now is the time for us to come together and take action to address challenges our communities are facing that are posed by data centers and instill common sense guardrails to minimize their impact on our neighbors,” Villivalam, a Democrat whose 8th District includes parts of Chicago and the northern suburbs, said Wednesday at a news conference.
Data centers enable vast amounts of storage and processing to meet the needs of web hosting, cloud storage and AI, or artificial intelligence.