Pritzker Says Data Center Regulations Up to Legislature
Governor JB Pritzker tours the Voortman USA facility in suburban Monee Thursday. (Photo: Governor’s Office)
Governor JB Pritzker said Thursday he can’t take executive action to stop data center construction, but wants the General Assembly to pass more stringent rules on the developments.
Speaking at a ribbon cutting for a steel fabricator in south suburban Monee, Pritzker responded after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed a moratorium on data center development in the city.
“We took away all the tax benefits, [and] that means, for a lot of them, that they’ve got to either slow down or stop,” Pritzker said. “What we want to make sure is when we get [a new] law in place, we don’t want them to go away.”
Pritzker is supportive of the so-called POWER Act, which would require data centers to produce their own or pay more for electricity and to reduce water usage.
Some communities across the state have placed moratoriums on data center construction, leading to a patchwork of rules and regulations. Pritzker says communities should have a say in development in their own backyard.
“Communities get to decide if they want a manufacturing facility. Some do, some don’t. Communities get to decide whether they want to provide a local, department store, whether they do or they don’t,” he said. “Those are all things that get left up to local communities and the people who live in them.”
While some governors have put statewide moratoriums on data center development into effect, Pritzker said he doesn’t have the authority to do so.
“You need a law in place,” he said.
