Naperville City Council votes against proposed data center plan

After months of heated debate over a data center in Naperville, Illinois, the city council voted against a proposed data center during Tuesday's meeting. 

The final vote was 6-1  with two abstentions. The developer offered to reduce the scale of the project from two centers to one, but that was also voted down.

Before the vote, a group of residents said they weren't against data centers or developing the unused land, but they do take issue with one being built in their community. 

"We do not want a data center anywhere in Naperville or even Illinois," a resident said. "Not near our trees, not near our water."

The main concerns are over potential increases in utility costs, heavy water use for cooling, and health risks.

"Just the proximity to homes and residences is really the major issue," said Rich Janor.

Janor lives near the proposed site. The 36-megawatt facility spanning over 130,000 square feet would've been built along the I-88 corridor.

"My own kids are six, nine, and 15, and don't necessarily want them growing up playing basketball, riding their bikes in such proximity next to a facility that's going to generate diesel exhaust," he said. 

Fears over increased energy costs, substantial water usage for cooling, and emissions from backup diesel generators were just some of the concerns shared by those standing against the project.   

Greg Strom, an executive with Karis Critical, the developer behind the data center, said the facility would've used less water than the office building that once stood at the site, and Karis guaranteed that energy costs won't go up.

"If Naperville procures that energy and it's at a higher rate than what residents are paying today, we pay all of that," he said.

"We do not want a data center anywhere in Naperville or even Illinois. Not near our homes, not near our trees, and not near our water," one resident said.

Following the vote, Karis Critical spokesman Patrick Skarr released a statement, saying:

"We are disappointed by the outcome of the vote, which overturned the city plan commission's recommendation, and by the city council's decision not to allow additional time for further studies to address concerns regarding our operations. Over the past year, we committed to investing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a best‑in‑class facility at a site that has long served as an anchor of Naperville's technology and jobs corridor. We are grateful for the support shown by residents, our partners in the union building trades, and the many organizations that worked with us as we tailored this proposal for this unique property in Naperville."

Frank Gravina, secretary and treasurer of the DuPage County Building Trades, also issued a statement about the vote, saying:

"For families to afford to live in Naperville, we need our jobs corridor to provide jobs, and those celebrating the denial of a significant investment to renew a vacant property in Naperville's research corridor are misguided. Make no mistake about it, six officials took years of high-paying, high-skilled work away from the men and women of the trades, hurting local families, the economy, and our community. Jobs are dignity, careers are stability, and a strong jobs corridor in Naperville is the foundation for both. Unfortunately, last night personal agendas became more important than process, officials prioritized politics over fact gathering, and our community lost an investment that would have propelled the community forward for years to come."

Other suburbs like Aurora have signed temporary moratoriums on building data centers until more research can be done on their impact. Aurora currently has four data centers, with five more under construction or in development.