Developer revises data center plans, Naperville residents still concerned

In the latest iteration of plans for a controversial data center in Naperville, a developer has backed off a proposed second phase of the project.

Karis Critical is under contract to acquire roughly 40 acres near Naperville and Warrenville roads. The developer is now seeking city approval to build only the southernmost building — a 36-megawatt facility — instead of two. Karis has also outlined a series of “stewardship initiatives.”

The developer has pledged to enroll in the city’s green energy certificate program to purchase renewable energy certificates, or RECs, “offsetting 100% of the leasable IT load,” said Russ Whitaker, an attorney for Karis. RECs are an essential component to the financing and development of renewable energy projects, he said.

“That is a substantial step, a step that no other business in Naperville has made to support investment in green infrastructure and to make sure that there is, not just for Naperville, but for the state of Illinois, additional energy resources that are coming online,” Whitaker said.

However, many area residents remain adamantly opposed to the project. They’ve raised concerns about noise, the use of emergency diesel generators and power consumption.

“The proposed Karis data center, even just phase one, if approved, would become one of Naperville's largest electricity customers,” said Barbara Benson, a member of the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force, or NEST, leadership.

There are several unoccupied properties along the I-88/Warrenville Road corridor that “could be a better fit,” a Naper Commons resident said.

Whitaker noted the city has confirmed there’s sufficient electrical load available in the Indian Hill substation to power the data center. It’s a “unique resource that positions this property to be developed as a data center,” he said.

As part of a “stewardship pledge,” Karis would fund the costs of necessary upgrades to the substation and the extension of electrical feeds to the data center.

Karis would make a minimum investment of $250 million in the data center, Whitaker said.

“Note that while we're spending $250 million on the core and shell of this building, tenants will spend hundreds of millions of dollars more outfitting the interior of the building with their computer equipment,” he said.

The city hired a third-party sound engineer to review the developer’s noise impact assessment and determined that it complies with the requirements of the municipal code. The remaining Nokia campus property is north of the proposed development.

“We know that this Nokia building is not going to exist for much longer, right? It's an old building … what happens when that building goes away? How this sound bends around that building will entirely change,” said James Butt, who lives on Fairmeadow Lane and raised other issues with the study.

Previously, city staff found that a second building “cannot be adequately served by public facilities at this time” and recommended approval of only one data center, subject to a list of conditions.

The developer has proposed that the “stewardship pledge gets incorporated into the ordinance approval and operates as a governing document, no different than a site plan, building elevations or a landscape plan,” Whitaker told the planning and zoning commission this week.

The panel’s next meeting is set for Nov. 5.

“We’ve adjusted our design, drafted a binding Community Stewardship Pledge, and worked with the city on a plan to procure and retire RECs, enabling our operations to support renewable energy being added to the grid,” Greg Strom, executive vice president of strategy and operations for Karis, said in a statement.

“This approach reflects our sincere commitment to building a best-in-class data center that is engineered for efficiency and committed to stewardship. This campus isn’t just about innovation and connectivity; it will be an engine of local prosperity and economic growth.”