Governor Pritzker is putting a hold on a program that processes tax exemptions for new data centers until the state legislature installs guardrails for consumers.
Data processing centers have seen explosive growth and the governor wants protections for consumers before more exemptions are processed.
As such, he has ordered the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to take a pause on processing agreements for the Data Center Investment Program.
The state legislature ended its spring session without taking any action on data center proposals by Governor Pritzker.
The governor says that, in the legislature’s veto session, he’d like to see data centers, among other things, be required to pay their fair share for water, electricity and other resources and be required to generate or pay for their own clean energy resources so Illinois taxpayers don’t have to pay the cost. He says Illinoisans have a right to transparency-- to know what’s happening in their communities --including how much water, electricity and other resources these data centers will use.
The governor points out that data centers can use up to five million gallons of water a day, as much as a medium-sized town.
The governor wants to see consumer protections before more tax exemptions are given.
The governor wants to see consumer protections before more tax exemptions are given.
