Democratic lawmakers in Illinois and a coalition of environmental groups are pushing legislation to regulate data centers, including a first-of-a-kind provision to require them to supply their own clean energy.
The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Ram Villivalam and state Rep. Robyn Gabel, both of Chicago, aims to protect consumers from shouldering the cost of grid investments needed to serve data centers while helping the state meet its goals to eliminate power sector carbon emissions.
Behind the proposal is the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, a group influential in driving state energy policy over the last decade. The group seeks to builds on an idea gaining traction in the nation’s largest power market in recent months: having data centers bring their own power supply.
The Illinois bill, dubbed the “POWER Act,” would go a step further by requiring data centers to submit clean energy plans and commit to getting at least 80 percent on their noninterruptible power supply from a combination of renewables, batteries and demand reduction.
