People with diverse perspectives across Illinois are grappling with the implications of local data center developments, and how data centers impact our land, water, electricity, and communities.The Resilient Communities Webinar Series has created space for water and energy experts, utility companies, and affected communities to share perspectives and help residents and leaders make informed decisions about local data center developments. This three-part series, Watt’s Up With Data Centers?, accommodates the wide breadth of concerns and questions related to these projects. Learn more about each webinar by reading our recap blog posts and/or watching the recordings.
- Part 1: Understanding Energy and Water Use (Blog post | Watch the recording)
- Part 2: Community and Utility Perspectives (Blog post | Watch the recording)
- Part 3: Community Responses to Data Centers (Read below | Watch the recording)
Protecting Communities From Data Center Development
Part 3 of the Watt’s Up with Data Centers series, “Community Responses to Data Centers”, was recorded February 24, 2026, covering environmental justice and community perspectives on data centers, as well as new research on data center energy demand. Speakers included experts from Green Latinos, the South Works CBA Coalition, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Lucy Contreras, Illinois State Director for Green Latinos, shared an environmental justice perspective on data center development. She noted that a national review of data centers found that nearly half are in census tracts with above-average environmental burdens, such as air and water pollution and lack of park access. Common community concerns around data centers—including affordability, transparency, air pollution, and water consumption—become even more important when a community is already under-resourced. She uplifted policy solutions that hold data centers accountable, ensuring they pay their share through rate structuring, infrastructure funding, and adding new renewable energy to the local grid. Emphasizing policies that prevent additional air pollution and consider the cumulative impacts of multiple polluting industries will be particularly important for environmental justice communities.
Moy Moreno with Alliance for the Southeast (ASE) and South Works Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition shared how this coalition of communities on the southeast side of Chicago worked to secure a legally binding community benefits agreement (CBA) with a data center developer. The South Works CBA Coalition has been fighting for a CBA for over 13 years to ensure the residents benefit from the project, located on over 440 acres of land on Chicago’s lakefront.
The Coalition seeks a CBA with key principles, including:
- Local hiring policies, fair wages, and employment training programs
- Affordable housing that is attainable to families’ incomes in the current surrounding community
- Access to, training in, and support of technology initiatives in the community
- Environmental safeguards, amenities, and transportation plans that protect human safety and local wildlife, preserve open space, maximize use of land throughout the duration of the project, and preserve the character of arterial streets
- Creation of a community center for education and the betterment of residents
- Creation of a community board to ensure CBA compliance through the duration of the project.
James Gignac, Midwest Policy Director for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), wrapped up this series for us with an overview of their recent analysis on data centers in Illinois titled “Data Center Power Play – How Clean Energy Can Meet Rising Electricity Demand While Delivering Climate and Health Benefits”. Published in early 2026, the report found that the United States could meet electricity demand from data centers primarily with clean energy, and simultaneously phase down fossil fuel use. The report stressed that data centers must be required to pay a fair share of the nearly $1 trillion in electricity costs attributable to them over the next 25 years, and highlighted how the climate and health benefits of reducing fossil fuels far outweigh the costs of transitioning to clean energy.
James also shared an overview of data center policy proposals in the POWER Act, a bill supported by UCS, Prairie Rivers Network, and our partners at the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.
The POWER Act: Protecting Our Water, Energy, and Ratepayers
In addition to hosting our data center webinar series to educate communities and spur conversation, Prairie Rivers Network is working to advance legislation to limit the harms of data center development, particularly around water use. Along with our partners in the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition and leaders in Springfield, we are supporting the newly introduced POWER Act: Protecting Our Water, Energy, and Ratepayers.
The POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) establishes nation-leading guardrails on data centers that will minimize their impacts on our water, utility bills, climate, and communities, and ensure responsible data center investment. The POWER Act will ensure that:
- Our water is protected. Data centers must report their water usage and meet efficiency requirements to protect Illinois’ drinking water. The bill establishes a process through the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) to review a data center’s water resources plan and report on its likely impacts to our water resources, and the Illinois EPA can only permit a data center if it will not cause an adverse water resources impact.
- Data centers pay their fair share. New rules protect ratepayers by requiring data centers to pay for their energy and water infrastructure upgrade needs.
- Data centers bring their own clean power. Data centers must develop supply plans with new renewable energy and battery storage.
- Communities are protected. The POWER Act closes pollution loopholes, protects environmental justice communities, mandates transparent community engagement, and creates a fund to lower people’s energy burden.
Prairie Rivers Network and partners want to see action taken on data centers during this spring’s legislative session in Springfield. Follow our data centers page (or join our mailing list) to stay updated.
Our state legislators need to hear from their constituents about the POWER Act. Take action today: Fill out our action alert and send a quick message to your elected officials.
