NEST recommends six-month moratorium on data centers in Naperville

The Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force (NEST) recommends that the city of Naperville adopt a six-month moratorium on the approval or permitting of data centers. NEST supports thoughtful economic development.

A strong economy is essential to our community. The financial impact on other businesses and residents needs to be well understood before building a data center that will be here for decades.

Purpose of the moratorium

The moratorium would provide time for city departments to:

• Assess fiscal implications to businesses and residents, including impact on electricity rates, property values, and long-term infrastructure maintenance for services like increased water usage and electricity distribution.

• Establish zoning ordinances and building codes based on national best practices for regulating data centers.

• Evaluate and communicate potential health, environmental, stormwater, and utility impacts unique to Naperville’s infrastructure and geography.

Why a pause Is needed

Data centers are industrial facilities that consume substantial resources and can have community-wide impacts. Given that the proposed data center would be the city’s largest electricity customer, classifying it as light industry is inappropriate.

NEST has identified several key areas of concern:

• Costs to Naperville businesses and residents: Naperville’s electricity contract is currently being negotiated. Without an electricity contract, the cost implications for other customers can’t be evaluated. A six-month moratorium would give the city time to complete negotiations on the electricity contract. The proposed data center would increase Naperville’s electricity demand by approximately 44% (630,720 MWh annually).

• Public health and air quality: Nearly 50 industrial diesel generators are planned for the proposed site. They emit particulate matter and nitrogen oxides that contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. No limits are in place for how often the generators will run.

• Noise pollution: Data centers elsewhere, including Aurora, have generated persistent complaints about the generators and constant fan noise that disrupts nearby neighborhoods. Naperville residents deserve detailed information on expected noise levels and plans before approving the data center.

• Health and climate impact: Given that much of Naperville’s power comes from coal-fired plants, this would significantly increase greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. The moratorium would provide time to explore options to require the data center to provide its own clean energy or negotiate that into our electricity contract.

• Water use: There are currently no regulations or contractual limits on the amount of water the data center can use. There is also no stormwater analysis on phase 2 of the proposed project. We need to ensure that Karis is required to report on energy and water usage, and we need an enforcement mechanism.

A six-month moratorium will give the city time to analyze environmental, fiscal, and community impacts; establish appropriate regulations; and ensure transparency with residents before approving any data center projects.

This prudent, data-driven approach mirrors steps taken recently by neighboring Aurora and reflects good governance for a sustainable future.

For more on NEST, visit sustainnaperville.org.