Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
Illinois experiencing higher electric bills directly translated from datacenter electricity consumption
Cook County has 18 data centers on the record: 16 running and 2 proposed. Cook County has a scorecard row with no rating yet. The latest decision on the record: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announces a city wide temporary moratorium on data center development and expansion for 12 months while the city develops a comprehensive regulatory framework (Chicago), September 23, 2026.
How to read this page. Every count comes from the records on this page and links to where it is counted. Nothing is published until a person reads its source, and a figure no source gives reads Not disclosed; nothing is estimated. A rating changes only when a person sets it.
Each row is one site with its stage, its latest dated entry and what its sources disclose. A figure no source gives reads Not disclosed.
Northlake, Cook County · Aligned Data Centers
No dated entry on the record yet.
Elk Grove Village, Cook County · Aligned Data Centers
No dated entry on the record yet.
Chicago, Cook County · Centersquare
No dated entry on the record yet.
Hoffman Estates, Cook County · Compass Datacenters
No dated entry on the record yet.
Elk Grove Village, Cook County · Digital Realty
No dated entry on the record yet.
Franklin Park, Cook County · Digital Realty
No dated entry on the record yet.
Elk Grove Village, Cook County · Equinix
Latest, reported September 17, 2026: Equinix facility in Elk Grove Village uses closed loop cooling system to conserve water fox.com local outlet
Elk Grove Village, Cook County · STACK Infrastructure
No dated entry on the record yet.
Chicago, Cook County
Latest, reported August 21, 2026: Allimac 2023 LLC, identified as Digital Realty, agreed to acquire Hawthorne Race Course for $90 million, with sale expected to close September 1, 2026 chicago.suntimes.com local outlet
Drag with one finger to move the map, pinch to zoom. Tap a pin for the data center, a county for its rules
18 data centers in Cook County: 16 running, 2 proposed. A dashed edge means the exact site is not in the public record (12 of 18).
| City | Projects | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 9 | 1 |
| Elk Grove Village | 4 | 0 |
| Hoffman Estates | 2 | 1 |
| Northlake | 2 | 0 |
| Franklin Park | 1 | 0 |
| Cicero | 0 | 1 |
| Stickney | 0 | 1 |
What the county and the cities in it have done about data centers: each body on its own row with its rating, open, case by case, restrictive or closed, never good or bad, and every vote, ordinance, moratorium or agreement behind its toggle, newest first, with its source.
Reported: the source's date; the item names no day of its own. A month with no day: the source names the month and not the day.
More than a dozen data centers near O'Hare airport received local property tax breaks in 2026, in 2026.
More than a dozen data centers near O'Hare airport received local property tax breaks in 2026.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announces a city wide temporary moratorium on data center development and expansion for 12 months while the city develops a comprehensive regulatory framework, reported September 23, 2026.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announces a city wide temporary moratorium on data center development and expansion for 12 months while the city develops a comprehensive regulatory framework
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and aldermen Maria Hadden, Leni Manaa Hoppenworth and Lamont Robinson introduced an ordinance to pause data center development and material expansion for one year
Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order creating stricter data center regulations and oversight
The working group report recommended the city create a new program for issuing noise and air pollution permits and enhancing environmental review
Mayor Brandon Johnson issued an executive order calling on Chicago City Council to pause new data center construction
Chicago City Council voted near unanimously on an ordinance incentivizing data center development
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order for stricter data center regulations
Mayor Brandon Johnson issued an executive order last month to regulate data centers and called on the city council to pass a moratorium on new data centers
A city working group on sustainable data centers spent over a year and a half developing recommendations, with report released in July 2026
Cicero trustees passed a resolution opposing data center development at Hawthorne in neighboring Stickney, reported August 21, 2026.
Cicero trustees passed a resolution opposing data center development at Hawthorne in neighboring Stickney
Karis Critical withdrew rezoning request for data center in Hoffman Estates, reported July 2, 2026.
Karis Critical withdrew rezoning request for data center in Hoffman Estates
Stickney board of trustees voted unanimously to block any data center proposals with a moratorium on zoning changes and approvals for data centers, reported August 21, 2026.
Stickney board of trustees voted unanimously to block any data center proposals with a moratorium on zoning changes and approvals for data centers
· Chicago
Moratorium: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announces a city wide temporary moratorium on data center development and expansion for 12 months while the city develops a comprehensive regulatory framework talkingpointsmemo.com local outlet
· Chicago
Moratorium: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and aldermen Maria Hadden, Leni Manaa Hoppenworth and Lamont Robinson introduced an ordinance to pause data center development and material expansion for one year yahoo.com national outlet
· Chicago
Scorecard event: Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order creating stricter data center regulations and oversight springfieldnewssun.com local outlet
· Cicero
Scorecard event: Cicero trustees passed a resolution opposing data center development at Hawthorne in neighboring Stickney chicago.suntimes.com local outlet
· Stickney
Moratorium: Stickney board of trustees voted unanimously to block any data center proposals with a moratorium on zoning changes and approvals for data centers chicago.suntimes.com local outlet
· Chicago Quantum Park
Now reported: Hawthorne Race Course, a 100+ acre site at 3501 S. Laramie Ave. in Stickney, closed after 135 years of horse racing, with last races on July 19, 2026 chicago.suntimes.com local outlet
Austin Child said build data centers only in communities where median home price is above $3 million, make them build their own power source not connected to public grid, give no tax breaks, and enact strict environmental protections.
Mitch Milenkovic, Mayor of Stickney, stated opposition to a data center at Hawthorne Race Course, citing water and power demand, noise, and nuisances
Brad Tietz, state policy director of the Data Center Coalition, said he is hopeful the mayor's directive will separate responsible water and energy stewards from those who are not
Every Illinois statement, by speaker
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
Illinois experiencing higher electric bills directly translated from datacenter electricity consumption
Chicago resident
Christine Bock said if data centers make money they should pay their own way with no corporate tax benefits, discounts, or dumping.
Chicago resident
Adam Agosto said if data centers can supply their own power to regulatory spec they could be built but must address infrastructural and environmental concerns and taxpayers and ComEd customers should not bear any costs.
Chicago resident
David Mansfield said data centers need to be built but there needs to be better methodology for where and how.
Chicago resident
Alyce Langreder Garcia said data centers should not be built, especially in heavily populated areas, and statistics are coming in about adverse impacts on wildlife, people, businesses, communities and natural resources.
Chicago resident
Drew Pekala said we need to keep up with the rest of the world and that if we don't build data centers then we fall behind as a society and as a country.
Chicago resident
Sergio Antonio Cueto Tellez asked how people can think data centers are OK when natural resources are becoming scarce.
Chicago resident
Deborah Bullwinkel said Great Lakes are at risk of depletion and pollution, electricity rates will skyrocket, and data centers cause noise, light, air and water pollution, ruin wetlands and kill wildlife, and negatively impact property values.
Chicago resident
Tim Patterson said data centers should not be done and that Chicago needs to build something that will make life better for Chicagoans such as fixing deferred infrastructure maintenance instead.
Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago, asked the City Council to pass a moratorium on data center facilities
Mayor of Chicago
Mayor Johnson said Chicago will not be passively shaped by the data center industry and will actively set the terms for how technological development occurs
Angela Tovar, commissioner of Chicago's Department of Environment, said current policies do not reflect what modern data centers look like
Jared Patton, project manager at Chicago's Department of Environment, said the city wants to develop recommendations thoughtful about local context rather than copying other areas
FOX Chicago
Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park focuses on quantum technology
| Figure | Disclosed total | Disclosed | Not disclosed | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power | Not disclosed | 0 | 18 | Not disclosed by any of the 18 records | |
| Water, stated per day | Not disclosed | 0 | 18 | Not disclosed by any of the 18 records | |
| Water, stated per year | Not disclosed | 0 | 18 | Not disclosed by any of the 18 records | |
| Permanent jobs | Not disclosed | 0 | 18 | Not disclosed by any of the 18 records | |
| Tax each year | Not disclosed | 0 | 18 | Not disclosed by any of the 18 records |
Summed only where a record disclosed the figure; a record with no figure adds nothing and is counted as not disclosed. Water is summed per day and per year separately, as the sources stated it, and never converted. A tax claim given as a range is summed at both ends.
| Use | Records | Power | Water | Jobs | Tax each year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not disclosed | 18 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed: power, water, jobs, tax each year |
A record that lists several uses counts once under each. Each cell is the sum over the records with that use, disclosed rows only.
No source on file states what any of the 18 tracked facilities in Cook County are for.
No source on file states how any of the 18 tracked facilities in Cook County are cooled.
Data Center Record, "Data centers in Cook County, Illinois", https://datacenterrecord.org/states/il/cook-county, updated October 4, 2026.
Data Center Record, "Data center records in Cook County, Illinois", https://datacenterrecord.org/states/il/cook-county. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Prose stays under copyright.
The rows here are part of the Illinois export.