Illinois Data Center Intel

Recent Illinois data center news

• Feb 27, 2026 · RMI

  Why Communities Can and Must Consider Electricity Affordability and Risk Together

  Stephen Abbott of RMI argues that communities should consider electricity affordability and risk together and pursue diverse, distributed energy portfolios rather than relying solely on large centralized fossil-fuel generation.

  • Main announcement/action: Communities and local governments should adopt portfolio-based energy strategies (energy efficiency, batteries, renewables, virtual power plants, and other flexible resources) to reduce price volatility and operational risk; RMI highlights concrete examples including data center-driven load growth of 32% by 2030, and Burlington’s 59,204 MWh annual reduction from its energy efficiency program.
  • Background and details: The piece cites recent cost and risk evidence: ComEd provided $277 million (2024) for efficiency programs yielding an estimated $3.2 billion in customer savings; reliance on fossil fuels produced at least $390 million in excess costs for communities around the Prairie State Energy Campus over four years; typical monthly fuel charges in Florida doubled from ~$20 to ~$40 (2020–2023); utilities such as TVA are proposing large new gas facilities as a conventional response.
• Feb 26, 2026

  Reimagining environmental health through AI

  The Government of India approved the IndiaAI Mission in March 2024 with an outlay of ₹10,372 crore.

  • Main announcement/action: The IndiaAI Mission (approved March 2024) has an outlay of ₹10,372 crore and targets expansion of compute (deployment of over 10,000 GPUs), creation of open/high-quality datasets, development of foundational models, startup financing, skills enhancement, and governance frameworks for responsible AI.
  • Background and details: The article documents multiple applied use-cases (air quality forecasting with 89%–98% accuracy for PM2.5/NO2; AI disease surveillance >90% accuracy; a CKD model with ~99% accuracy in Uddanam), flags ethical risks (surveillance, algorithmic bias) and notes the environmental footprint of AI (a UC Riverside/Caltech analysis using a U.S. EPA model estimates billions of dollars in public-health costs linked to data-centre emissions).
• Feb 25, 2026

  Climate Change Solutions - February 24, 2026

  The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) released a newsletter highlighting data center impacts, policy developments on Capitol Hill, and upcoming briefings and events.

  • Main announcement: EESI highlighted rising household energy costs driven in part by data center demand, noting electricity prices have risen by up to 267% since 2020 in high-concentration data center areas and that wildfires cost the United States up to $424 billion annually. The newsletter features the article “Data Center Power Demands Are Contributing to Higher Energy Bills,” a podcast on wildfire philanthropy, and announces briefings including “Understanding Load Growth and Energy Affordability” on Thursday, February 26 (3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online).

  • Background and other details: The newsletter summaries recent legislative actions and events: Senate Energy Committee advanced the Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025 (S.714); House Committee approved the ACERO Act (H.R.390) to authorize NASA’s ACERO project; Senate Foreign Relations agreed to the Protecting Global Fisheries Act of 2026 (S.1369); House introduced the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R.7567). Events listed with dates/times/locations:

    • Understanding Load Growth and Energy Affordability — Feb 26, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online
    • Igniting Innovation: Progress and a Path Forward for Wildfire Policy — Mar 3, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Russell Senate Office Building, Room 385 and online (Reception to follow)
    • Strategies to Lower Utility Bills Now for Households and Small Businesses — Mar 12, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (Room 2168) and online
    • 2026 Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum (EXPO 2026) — Jun 24, 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Rayburn House Office Building Foyer and Gold Room and online
• Feb 24, 2026

  These data center developers asked Trump for an exemption from pollution rules

  Novva and Thunderhead Energy Solutions requested presidential Clean Air Act exemptions from the EPA under the Trump administration to allow increased generator use at data centers.

  • Main announcement: Novva sought a two-year exemption to run 96 diesel generators without limits while finishing a 200 MW natural gas plant (the plant was earlier described as taking until 2027 to be built, though the article also says the gas plant is “expected to be operational in the coming months”). Thunderhead requested exemptions for 11 data centers consuming a combined 23 GW across Texas, Montana, and Illinois and proposed (in filings) a 5,000-MW gas plant in Winkler County, while publicly announcing a 250-MW plant in Ector County.
  • Background and process details: Companies submitted requests to a special EPA presidential-exemption inbox created under the Trump administration, arguing two required criteria: technology to comply is not available and operations are in the national security interest. An Environmental Defense Fund analysis of obtained records found that of more than 500 exemption requests it reviewed, roughly a third were granted; the EPA said it “played no role” and directed questions to the White House.
• Feb 21, 2026

  Invenergy Inks Supply Deal for Three New Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants in Arizona

  Invenergy has announced an agreement with a subsidiary of Tallgrass to provide natural gas infrastructure supporting development of up to three new natural gas-fired power plants in Arizona (Maricopa and Yuma counties), announced February 20.

  • Main announcement:Invenergy signed an agreement (announced February 20) with a subsidiary of Tallgrass to supply the natural gas infrastructure needed for development of up to three new natural gas-fired power plants in Maricopa and Yuma counties, Arizona; plant names and exact locations were not disclosed.
  • Background and details:Tallgrass operates more than 10,000 miles of pipelines and will provide long-term gas supply; Arizona demand is expected to increase by more than 40% over the next five years (drivers cited: population growth, manufacturing, electrification, AI and data centers). Invenergy is also developing the 475-MW Hashknife Solar Energy Center (expected online next year) and Invenergy/affiliates have developed more than 220 projects totaling >36 GW of generation capacity.
• Feb 21, 2026

  The Hidden Cost of America’s AI Boom: How Trump’s Pollution Rollbacks Are Clearing the Way for Coal-Fired Data Centers

  The Environmental Protection Agency finalized the repeal of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) under the Trump administration.

  • Main action: The EPA, led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, finalized repeal of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) (originally implemented in 2012) to ease limits on mercury, arsenic and other hazardous pollutants; the administration explicitly framed the rollback as necessary to keep generation capacity online to power AI data centers. The EPA had previously estimated MATS would prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 asthma attacks annually.
  • Legal and political follow-up: A coalition of state attorneys general (New York, California, Illinois) and environmental groups (Sierra Club, Earthjustice) have signaled intent to sue and prepare litigation; Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation to codify MATS into law (not expected to pass in the current Congress). The article reports the repeal is part of a broader deregulatory push including relaxed carbon and methane rules and streamlined permitting for fossil fuel infrastructure.
• Feb 20, 2026

  Urban vs. Rural: Why Data Centers Are Built Where They Are

  This article analyzes shifting patterns in data center site selection in the United States and is an analytical overview rather than a new corporate or government announcement.

  • Main finding: Data center site selection is diversifying as power capacity expansion, long-haul fiber, streamlined permitting, and incentives reduce legacy clustering in hubs such as Northern Virginia, Silicon Valley, and the greater Chicago area.
  • Drivers and trade-offs: The piece outlines six selection factors — Infrastructure, Demand Proximity, Economics, Governance, Risk and Resilience, and Community and Social License — and cites emerging markets in parts of Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Mississippi, alongside growing urban hubs like Boston and Denver.
• Feb 20, 2026

  Urban vs. Rural: Why Data Centers Are Built Where They Are

  The article analyzes a shift in U.S. data center site selection toward greater geographic diversity, including more rural builds.

  • Main finding: The piece argues that as regions expand power capacity, extend long‑haul fiber, and streamline permitting and incentives, legacy hub advantages (e.g., Northern Virginia, Silicon Valley, greater Chicago) are weakening and site selection is diversifying toward a wider set of geographies, including rural areas.
  • Supporting details: The analysis lists core site-selection factors — infrastructure, demand proximity, economics, governance, risk and resilience, and community/social license — and cites emerging growth markets and examples such as parts of Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Utah, while noting new urban hubs like Boston and Denver; it also references multi-decade grid requirements and decades of legacy investment in hubs.
• Feb 19, 2026

  Accelerating Science with Digital Twins

  Berkeley Lab is advancing and deploying AI-powered digital twins across multiple scientific instruments and domains.

  • Main announcement / action: Berkeley Lab is developing and installing AI-driven digital twins for particle accelerators, tsunami forecasting, chemistry and materials discovery, building energy systems, fusion plasma, and biological bioreactor scale-up—leveraging DOE facilities such as NERSC (Perlmutter), ESnet networking, and DOE programs including LDRD and the Genesis initiatives; projects include the StFT AI model, the BELLA beamline digital twin, DTCS for chemistry, and a biological twin for lipid production for jet fuel.
  • Background and implementation details: Funding and support come from DOE offices and programs (LDRD, DOE Office of Electricity, Advanced Fuels and Feedstocks Office, Genesis/AmSC); work uses high-performance computing (Perlmutter, Polaris) and low-jitter ESnet circuits (OSCARS) to enable real-time data flows; the tsunami digital twin used NERSC and won the 2025 ACM Gordon Bell Prize, and accelerator efforts plan to standardize APIs and deploy across facilities under the Genesis Mission framework.
• Feb 12, 2026

  Crunching Big Data Into 3D Images Accelerates Discovery

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (NERSC) and the Advanced Light Source (ALS) announced deployment of a Superfacility real-time data streaming pipeline connecting ALS Beamline 8.3.2 to NERSC via ESnet, enabling near-instant 3D micro-CT reconstructions during experiments.

  • Main announcement/action: The project implements real-time streaming from ALS to NERSC (via ESnet) so micro-CT datasets (often 50 GB+) are reconstructed on NERSC using multiple high-powered GPUs with results available in less than 10 seconds; this capability is the result of a two-year collaborative project involving 30+ contributors and is now in daily production use. The pipeline was developed through NERSC’s NESAP program and integrated by ALS Beamline Controls, Photon Science Computing, and Berkeley Lab IT.
  • Background and details: The effort built on shared code from APS/Argonne, included updates to beamline data-acquisition software/hardware, and was first demonstrated in production with the Saad Bhamla Lab (Georgia Tech). The team plans to expand the framework to support ptychographic imaging and to combine the pipeline with AI/ML tools for automated image segmentation and analysis.