Illinois is 'not quite ready' to pass data center regulations despite public pressure

This article was originally published by The Daily Yonder.

The Illinois General Assembly’s 2026 session wrapped up without advancing the POWER Act, a bill that proposes regulation on data centers. On June 5, 2026, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced a pause on new data center tax incentives and directed the General Assembly to revisit the data center issue during their veto session later this year. Data center development has recently ramped up in the state’s rural communities.

“I am directing my administration to pause the processing of data center agreements while we continue working with the General Assembly and stakeholders on a comprehensive framework that protects affordability, safeguards our natural resources, and ensures responsible growth across Illinois,” said the Governor in a press release. 

The direction from the Governor comes after months of debate on the POWER Act in the state House and Senate. The bill’s acronym stands for Protecting Our Water and Energy Resources, and imposes regulations on data centers’ water usage, efficiency, and transparency. It also requires the facilities to bring their own clean energy to the grid and not pass on infrastructure costs to consumers.

Illinois House of Representatives Leader Robyn Gabel introduced the bill in the House in February of 2026, but by mid-May, she said, “The sentiment was that we weren’t quite ready.” 

“When you first put any big issue on the table, it takes a while to get these passed. It doesn't usually happen the first year,” Representative Gabel told the Daily Yonder. While there were multiple hearings in the House and Senate during the 2026 legislative session, Gabel said there will be more stakeholder meetings this summer to prepare for the Assembly’s November veto session. She said lawmakers will prepare language ahead of the session and look to attach the POWER Act to a vehicle bill, or draft legislation that’s further along in the process, as an amendment. 

“I’m pretty confident that we’ll be able to get this done in November,” Gabel said. “It always helps to have the governor behind you when you're working on legislation.”

POWER Act Supporters "Disappointed"

For proponents of the POWER Act, the results of the spring session are frustrating, said Andrew Rehn, Prairie Rivers Network’s director of climate policy. Prairie Rivers Network and other nonprofit partners have held well-attended public meetings about data centers and the POWER Act across East-Central Illinois and the rest of the state.

“Ultimately, we left disappointed,” Rehn said, noting that the POWER Act is “wildly popular” across the state. An April poll by the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, of which Prairie Rivers Network is a member, found that 68% of Illinois voters support the POWER Act, across demographic and partisan lines. 

As data center proposals continue to crop up, Rehn noted that projects approved between now and the veto session will be able to move forward without any regulations surrounding transparency or the safeguarding of water and energy resources. He stressed the timeliness of getting something passed. According to a January analysis from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, there are currently 115 operational data centers and 67 proposed data centers in Illinois.

“This isn't one of those, ‘let's get these protections in place at some point,’ you know, this isn't a long-term correction type thing,” Rehn said. “This is pretty urgent for these communities.”

More than 30 states have proposed data center legislation in 2026, with at least 14 states considering temporary bans on the facilities.

 In April, Maine lawmakers became the first in the nation to pass a moratorium on data centers, only to have the bill vetoed by the Governor later that month. Earlier this month, New York state lawmakers passed a one-year moratorium on new data centers that also sets up environmental and transparency guardrails on the facilities. It now goes to Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, who in May indicated that she would not support a statewide data center ban, per Politico’s E&E News. 

“There’s not a state that I’m aware of where elected officials, both in state legislatures and in governors’ mansions, are not feeling the heat and the need to demonstrate that they are on the case,” said Jackson Morris, the director of state power sector policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council.  “It's almost necessary if you want to stay in office, you’ve got to demonstrate you’re at least trying.”

In May, a Gallup poll found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose data centers being built in their area. Yet at the federal level, regulatory action on data centers has been minimal. While the Trump administration released a Ratepayer Protection Pledge in March, intended to shield American households from increasing energy costs associated with data centers, Congress has yet to take legislative action to enforce nationwide regulation on data centers. 

“We’re not going to see the feds come in and save this,” said Rehn. “We’re just going to see [data center] proposals continue. I struggle to imagine that this cools off. It feels like what’s needed to cool it off is some sort of response.”