Illinois Data Center News

May 19, 2026

Data center news: Saline Township treasurer resigns over data center death threats

Saline Township Treasurer Jennifer Zink has resigned citing death threats tied to the 1.4-gigawatt Related Digital data center project.

Main announcement: Jennifer Zink resigned after six years as Saline Township Treasurer, citing death threats related to the 1.4-gigawatt Related Digital data center project developed for Oracle and OpenAI; the project was allowed to proceed after a legal settlement overturning the township board’s rezoning rejection.
Background and other developments:Lyon Township unanimously denied drainage easements for Walbridge’s 1.8-million-square-foot Project Flex on a 172-acre site (Walbridge offered to fund roughly $3 million–$4 million in improvements); the University of Michigan’s planned $1.2 billion high-performance computing/data center project is trending toward Willow Run after a proposed Textile Road site was described as “dead”; a judge has cleared a recall effort of all seven Augusta Township board members over rezoning for a Thor Equities hyperscale data center, and water experts warn undisclosed data center water/electricity use could strain resources near Lake Michigan.

May 15, 2026

Phantom Data Centers Didn’t Break the Power Grid—They Proved It Was Already Broken

Tom Bailey (VP of Energy at Flexential) argues that phantom data center interconnection requests have exposed an 80-year failure in U.S. grid planning and capacity investment.

Main announcement/claim: The article asserts that phantom data centers—queue positions secured by developers, brokers, and shell companies without site control or signed customers—have exposed a brittle U.S. transmission and interconnection system; cited figures include data center interconnection requests jumping from 1 GW to 25 GW in Houston, utilities projecting 5.7% annual demand growth through 2030, and FERC projecting demand growth revisions (from 3.7% to 29% in one cited comparison). The author recommends aligning load, generation, and transmission planning and securing utility contracts before land purchases.
Supporting details / background:Regulatory and cost responses cited include: ComEd charging $1,000,000 deposits for 50 MW+ requests in Chicago, Ohio requiring data centers to pay for at least 85% of projected energy use, Virginia locking large-load customers into 14-year contracts, and transmission shortfalls (U.S. built 888 miles of high-capacity lines in 2024 vs. DOE’s estimate of 5,000 miles annually needed). The piece is commentary from a Flexential executive describing actions taken by serious operators (phased schedules, conditional land purchases) and notes federal moves (FERC direction to revise PJM tariff and standardize large-load connections).

May 15, 2026

Data Center Boom Strains Communities, Some Panelists Say

Broadband Breakfast hosted an online panel highlighting backlash against AI-driven data center deployments in Loudoun County.

Panel findings and local backlash: Tim Cywinski of the Sierra Club Virginia chapter reported public approval collapsing from 62% to 23%, claimed electric bills rose as much as 200% since 2020, cited a $1.9 billion state tax break for the industry, and said 29 of 31 Virginia data center developments under negotiation signed nondisclosure agreements before proceeding. (Event date: May 13, 2026; format: online panel; agenda/subject: The Politics of Data Centers.)
Industry and local government details: INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering said hyperscalers will invest $700 billion in data centers this year, with two-thirds to rural America; he cited ~$60 billion investment in Mississippi and an AWS facility paying $100 million annually to local taxes (doubling Canton School District’s budget from $25M to $50M). Pickering also cited AWS-Entergy investments saving $2 billion. Loudoun County Supervisor Laura TeKrony noted no approvals by her since 2024 and is pushing tree buffers, lighting controls, and 500-foot setbacks; Alex Roark (AI Policy Forum) referenced three executive orders from President Donald Trump designating AI infrastructure as a national security asset.

May 12, 2026

Ford launches ‘Ford Energy’ battery energy storage subsidiary

Ford Motor Co. has launched a wholly owned subsidiary, Ford Energy, to manufacture stationary battery energy storage systems in the U.S.

Main announcement: Ford Energy will manufacture battery energy storage systems at the repurposed Glendale, Kentucky plant, aims to deploy a minimum of 20 GWh annually, with first customer deliveries slated for late 2027, and Ford plans to invest roughly $2 billion over the next two years to set up Ford Energy and hire roughly 2,100 workers.
Background and details: The move follows dissolution of the BlueOval SK joint venture with SK On (originally part of an $11.4 billion 2021 plan to build three U.S. battery plants); Ford will produce 5-megawatt-hour advanced storage systems (product: Ford Energy DC block) built around 512 Ah LFP prismatic cells in FE-250 (2-hour) and FE-450 (4-hour) configurations, each designed for 20-year service life; the article also notes contemporaneous industry deals such as a $4.3 billion Tesla–LG supply agreement (cells production targeted to start in 2027) and a Rivian–Redwood 10 MWh second-life deployment.

May 11, 2026

Fast Power for a Constrained Grid: Wet Compression Applications in Gas Turbines

Ironclad Energy installed wet compression at the Morris Cogeneration Plant to increase available capacity for PJM and prepare for summer 2025 operations.

Installation and performance: Wet compression was installed in early 2025 on two GE Frame 6B turbines at Morris Cogen by Mee Industries/MeeFog, delivering +5–6 MW per unit, improving heat rate by about 400 Btu/kWh, and enabling faster startup; third unit installation is planned for 2026. Delivery and installation took 24 weeks from order.
Costs, timeline and vendor details: Ironclad reported a total spend of about $150 per kW for wet compression; vendors from Mee Industries assisted onsite. The article reports vendor track records (MeeFog: >1,000 installations) and operational lessons (demineralized water supply, weather hood, booster pump) learned during 2025 operation.

May 11, 2026 · RMI

A Fast-Path to Affordability: Understanding the Benefits of Energy-Only Resources in PJM

RMI (authors Katie Siegner, Sarah Toth Kotwis, Abigail Weeks) commissioned Aurora Energy Research analysis and recommends PJM reform ERIS interconnection pathways to accelerate deployment of energy-only resources.

Main announcement/action: RMI highlights Aurora’s finding that deploying 10 GW of ERIS resources (5 GW solar + 5 GW wind) by 2028 could yield ~$10.9 billion in PJM ratepayer savings (billion, 2025$) over the next decade, and urges PJM to create a separate, fast ERIS study track with minimal network upgrade scope and clearly defined short timelines. The analysis assessed IRRs across four PJM zones (AEP, ComEd, Dominion, PPL) using a 9% hurdle rate and assumed no network upgrade costs beyond the point of interconnection for the primary scenarios.
Context and details: Aurora’s study modeled ERIS resources (wind and solar) with a 2028 commercial operation date, found ERIS projects are financially viable across most scenarios (central-case IRRs: solar ~9%–10.2%, wind ~9.2%–13.6%), noted ERIS uptake in PJM is currently low (PJM ~1% of MW online ERIS vs much higher elsewhere), and recommended that transmission planning (e.g., PJM’s RTEP) handle broader system upgrades while ERIS studies limit scope to point-of-interconnection impacts.

May 8, 2026

Nano Nuclear Signs MoU On Nuclear For ‘Rapidly Expanding’ AI Economy

Nano Nuclear Energy has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Super Micro Computer Inc to explore deploying microreactors to provide dedicated, onsite power for data centres.

MoU to explore integration: Nano Nuclear and Super Micro will explore integration of Nano Nuclear’s Kronos MMR Energy System (a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor) with Super Micro’s AI server and data centre platforms to potentially deploy dedicated, onsite nuclear power for data centres serving the AI economy.
Background and recent actions: Nano Nuclear is developing the Kronos MMR Energy System and in January 2025 closed an $8m (€6.8m) deal to acquire major assets of bankrupt Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation; the company has also signed an agreement with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to build the first research Kronos MMR on the university campus.

May 7, 2026

Powering the Next American Century: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and NVIDIA’s Ian Buck on the Genesis Mission

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a partnership with NVIDIA on the Genesis Mission and the construction of two AI supercomputers at Argonne National Laboratory.

Main announcement: DOE and NVIDIA are building two AI supercomputers at Argonne National Laboratory: Equinox (being stood up now with 10,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell GPUs) and Solstice (planned with 100,000 GPUs using NVIDIA Vera Rubin, described as ~5,000 exaflops). The work is part of the DOE’s Genesis Mission to apply AI to scientific discovery and will make the technology and software stacks available for broader scientific use.
Background and additional details: DOE brings 17 national labs and scientific data; NVIDIA brings the full stack (chips, algorithms, software) and two decades of lab partnerships. DOE emphasized energy pillars (natural gas, nuclear, coal), noted three SMRs will go critical by July 4 (this year), has stood up a strategic fusion office, and highlighted that AI can shorten grid interconnection studies from years to weeks/hours. NVIDIA cited generation-to-generation gains (Hopper→Blackwell: 30x performance, 25x performance per watt).

May 6, 2026

Data Center Jobs: Engineering, Construction, Commissioning, Sales, Field Service and Facility Tech Jobs Available in Major Data Center Hotspots

Data Center Frontier, in partnership with Pkaza, has posted the latest data center job listings on its jobs board.

Monthly job roundup: The post lists multiple open roles including Power Applications Engineer, Electrical Commissioning Engineer, Power Systems Sales Implementation Engineer, Architect Design Manager (CSA), Electrical Project Manager, Commissioning Project Manager, MEP Superintendent, Director of Data Center Facility Operations, Project Executive (Owner’s Rep), EHS Director, Mechanical Commissioning Lead, Mechanical Controls Engineer, Director of Project Deliverables, and Senior Electrical Engineer across numerous U.S. locations (examples: Pittsburgh, PA; New Albany, OH; Raleigh, NC; Dallas, TX; Charlotte, NC; Chesterton, IN; Denver, CO; New York, NY; Totowa, NJ), with many roles offering remote or multi-city travel options.
Client and role context: Positions are with mission-critical data center developers, engineering design and commissioning firms, electrical contracting firms, general contractors, and digital infrastructure firms; job descriptions emphasize reliability, energy efficiency, sustainable design, and LEED expertise, and note career-growth opportunities, competitive salaries and benefits. Many listings reference travel requirements and alternative available locations for implementation timelines (immediate hiring/use by clients), but no specific salary or funding amounts are disclosed.

May 5, 2026

Defending the Disclosure Ecosystem: The Essential Role of Shareholder Proposals and Regulation S-K

The Shareholder Rights Group has submitted an SEC comment letter urging the SEC to preserve and strengthen the disclosure ecosystem, defending shareholder proposals and Regulation S-K.

Main action: The Shareholder Rights Group (SRG) filed an SEC comment letter during the SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s comprehensive review of Regulation S-K, urging the Commission to maintain or broaden S-K disclosures and to protect the shareholder proposal process (Rule 14a-8). SRG recommends clarifying that substantial shareholder support (for example, above 20%) may constitute evidence of materiality for S-K disclosure purposes and that voluntarily reported ESG information can be incorporated in S-K filings without substantial reformatting.
Context and supporting facts: The letter cites recent shareholder proposal activity and outcomes — including AI-related proposals (2022–2025) and ESG proposals at Alphabet, Amazon, Salesforce, Meta, and Apple — and references concrete outcomes such as a $6 million jury verdict (March 2026) against Alphabet and Meta and $26 billion opioid legal settlements (2022). It also notes specific shareholder vote results (e.g., 56.3% support at Meta (2024), 45.7% at Alphabet (2024), 37.5% at Apple (2024)) and points to the White House December 2025 executive order as part of the regulatory backdrop.

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