Daily Herald opinion: Managing complexities: The importance of balance in developing data center regulations

Illinois lawmakers are doing important work this session as they engage in study aimed at finding a balance between the impact and the value of data processing centers around the state.

That’s the key word: Balance.

Although “people first” is also a relevant phrase.

As we have argued, local communities need some statewide guidance and standards to provide a fact- and science-based foundation for siting decisions and to avoid pitting communities against each other when assessing whether to approve project proposals.

A seemingly unlikely connection between Sangamon County in south-central Illinois and suburban Aurora this week provides an instructive example. Beset with noise complaints regarding a CyrusOne data center, Aurora initiated a six-month moratorium on such projects and followed up in March with new guidelines for the future. Last week, the Sangamon County Board authorized a $500 million CyrusOne development, but one opposing board member worried about the implications.

“Rather than fixing the noise in Aurora, they’re expanding with a bigger project in Sangamon County,” Marc Ayers told Capitol News Illinois. “So this aspect of being a good neighbor, we’re torn with that, because they’re not really being a good neighbor right now in Aurora.”

Ayers’ characterization may not be entirely fair; CyrusOne officials are working with Aurora to respond to the complaints. But his core concern is valid. Without some common standards, communities may find themselves at odds when considering data center proposals, especially in more compact areas like the suburbs.

That said, it is also important to consider an exchange reflected in our Eric Peterson’s report last week on changing attitudes toward the centers, which are seen as critical for handling the expected increase in demand for artificial intelligence technology. In the story, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson staunchly defends the 20 centers in his community while environmentalists express concerns — but both sides acknowledge the need for some regulation.

“Doing nothing,” says Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of the Citizens Utilities Board, “is one of the ways to ensure worst possible outcomes.”

Johnson’s position: “What (developers) don’t want is to be unfairly picked on.”

That provides a useful framework for lawmakers as they consider a bill known as the POWER Act which aims to address a range of issues that have emerged as data centers proliferate — including noise pollution, water use and electrical demand.

State Rep. Ann Williams, a Chicago Democrat and chair of the House Executive Committee, offered an appealing template for crafting regulations.

“Whatever we do here, we have to put people first,” she said at a committee hearing last week. “We have to put communities first. Data’s important, business is important, revenues are important, but people must come first.”

People, of course, are also the core constituency of the data that data processing centers enable, so simplistic catchphrases have their limits. And, as in this case, they can also reflect the conflicting issues at play. People benefit from data centers. People also endure discomforts from them. The task facing lawmakers is to find a workable middle ground.

Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker and a bipartisan coalition of governors highlighted the interconnections in this issue when they presented the agency that controls electrical supply and pricing for northern Illinois and other regions a letter urging it “to keep consumers at the center of every decision it makes” regarding data centers. The letter cites a specific list of regulations the governors consider critical for ensuring that data centers “pay their fair share” for the immense amount of electrical power they require.

Together, all of this emphasizes the complexities of managing a technology that will define our future. But they are complexities that can be managed.

Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, acknowledged in Peterson’s report that a variety of points of view is needed in the process.

“I do think it’s helpful to hear from the community — someone beyond the industry itself,” he said. “It’s always tough with an industry so large and diverse. It can be the state of politics today that people only want to hear one side of it.”

The solution on this issue, as on so many, will be found in the ability to listen to all of them.