* Capitol News Illinois on the lack of any legislative progress whatsoever this past spring about data center regulation…

Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, said lawmakers will continue negotiating data center regulations with stakeholders this summer, but no dates have been established.

“I support the pause while we get a handle on how we’re going to put some guardrails in place regarding data centers,” she said. “But I know some of my colleagues are very interested in the development and the job creation and the economic benefits that development on the scale of a data center can provide.” […]

A last-minute push among some lawmakers to pause tax incentives also failed because there was disagreement in the House Democratic caucus, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said.

“Not only did it struggle, it wasn’t even close in my caucus. I believe it was similar in the Senate,” Welch told Capitol News Illinois. […]

Lobbyists from stakeholder organizations said they’ve been ready to meet at the negotiating table and they’re only waiting for lawmakers to set dates.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we didn’t actually really begin any stakeholder negotiations,” Brad Tietz, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, said. “We were prepared and able to do that. It just never came to fruition.” […]

He said the Data Center Coalition suggested language to amend the Illinois Water Use Act of 1983 and require all large water users to report their usage. They’ve also suggested making the “bring your own clean energy” provision voluntary and incentivizing data centers to do it by letting them connect to the electricity grid faster. The POWER Act made “bring your own clean energy” mandatory, but it also allowed data centers to connect to the grid faster for doing it, and for meeting other standards in the bill. […]

Tietz said he had some informal meetings with lawmakers to give them more information and to get a sense of their priorities, but real negotiations need to happen sooner rather than later. […]

[Jen Walling, the executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council] said she expects the POWER Act to be pared back in some areas, but she doesn’t have details because she hasn’t met with the Data Center Coalition. The IEC had some informal meetings with lawmakers during the session, but she said those never went into detail or involved other groups. […]

A key obstacle for getting regulations over the finish line, Walling said, was that both legislative chambers were rarely in session at the same time this year. Before May, the House and Senate were only in session at the same time for four weeks — two in February, one in March and one in April.

“And so there’s very little time to have in-person meetings that included leaders from both chambers. That made it really hard to get anything done,” Walling said.

* Related…

* Tribune | Illinois AFL-CIO puts off endorsements in rebuke to Democrats over stalled labor priorities in Springfield: “This past state legislative session was especially concerning, as Springfield not only failed to advance key priorities, but the process by which legislation was considered fell short of what working people deserve,” he said. “These concerns span the full breadth of our movement, with public sector, private sector, manufacturing, and building trades all expressing dissatisfaction.” In an interview with the Tribune, Drea called the decision more of a pause on traditional post-session endorsements and political organizing in order to hold further discussions with Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic legislative leaders House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside and Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park before deciding whether endorsements were warranted.

* WaPo | Why most politicians are not calling for data center bans despite voters’ anger: Democrats are divided because some trade unions support the centers, which create construction jobs, and because the powerful industry behind them has poured millions into attacking political opponents. Republicans have largely supported the centers, spurred by President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic backing, and have only recently been raising concerns as they hear from their enraged base. The data centers’ footprint encompasses states that are midterm battlegrounds and will be crucial to determining which party controls the House and the Senate next year. Ohio is home to more than 200 data centers, the sixth-most of any state, according to data compiled by the industry group Data Center Map. Georgia, Virginia and Texas host even more of the centers.

* Shaw Local | Illinois data center fight escalates as state regulation fails and communities push back: The lack of regulation currently at the state and federal level was a major point of contention at a May 26 meeting in Lockport, where residents spoke out vehemently against the possibility of using a specific parcel of city-owned land to build a data center. Mayor Steven Streit argued that if the city were approached about a data center project, the city could use its ownership of the property, known as the Star Innovation District, to impose its own restrictions on the development. Residents were skeptical, however, that local efforts would be successful without regulation at the state or federal level.

* WGLT | State Sen. Koehler on the end-of-session crunch and push for data center, insurance industry regulation: “You shouldn’t be taking drinking water out of the [Mahomet] aquifer to run a data center, so I hope that will make a difference. Unfortunately, this is not done statewide, and there was a bill that was introduced, but it didn’t really go anywhere,” Koehler said. Koehler said the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District is allowed to sell gray water [waste water from sinks and washing machines] to allow more clean water to go towards residents. Koehler said the state can create laws surrounding electric and water consumption, but local governments still need to decide where to zone the data center to minimize the noise pollution.

* Shaw Local | Bourbonnais trustees approve moratorium on data centers: “It doesn’t protect us outside our village boundaries. It’s just limited to the village boundaries,” said during a telephone interview Wednesday. The moratorium is a temporary fix that expires Jan. 31, 2027, according to the ordinance. Mayor Jeff Keast and Van Mill said last week the moratorium gives them time to protect the village from future data centers.

* Shaw Local | Data center moratorium coming to Bourbonnais: “Those regulations are going to take some time, and what we’re proposing here is a moratorium on any applications, any sitings of data centers,” Van Mill said. Trustees are scheduled to vote on proposed legislation at Monday’s board meeting. The moratorium gives officials a year to create or amend current ordinances. “The moratorium is basically a full stop, everything.” Van Mill said after the meeting.

* Daily Herald | ‘Taking this issue extremely seriously’: Lake County pursues data center moratorium: As that review and approval process can take time, the action is coupled with an “administrative deferral” of up to 120 days on data center applications to bridge the gap and make the pause immediate. Given the complexity and potential long-term implications of data centers, county staff says it needs time to evaluate and develop definitions, zoning classifications, performance standards and review procedures before data center proposals move ahead.

* Illinois Times | Area data center updates: Plans for CyrusOne’s $500 million data center in Sangamon County are moving forward, with construction expected to begin this summer, after approval two months ago in a County Board vote that crossed party lines. Meanwhile, debate on the potential Meridian Technology Park data center – 10 times more expensive and two miles west of Taylorville – is just beginning in nearby Christian County. The Christian County Board expects to formally discuss the issue for the first time on June 16, with official votes on plans by North Carolina-based Eagle Rock Partners expected in the coming months.

* WICS | CWLP requests change to large load rates amidst area data center speculation: Rogers says, “There’s no way we could provide power to a large center like that or to the 200 megawatts in excess today at that rate.” He continues, “If a data center is going to come in, we would have to have negotiations with them on how we’re going to serve them and what the costs are going to be.”

* 25 News Now | “It won’t be a data center.” Owner of the old AMC theater in North Pekin and village president address data center speculation: Although a vote on rezoning the now-abandoned AMC theaters in North Pekin from retail to light industrial won’t be taken until Tuesday night, residents in the area are concerned that rezoning could open the possibility of a future data center. North Pekin leaders assured the public Monday night that won’t happen. Residents showed up in “NO Data Center” t-shirts to fill the room, where usually only a small gathering of residents attends. According to North Pekin residents, this was the first meeting they’d attended, and it was due to data center rumors.

* Shaw Local | Lee County officials: No data center coming to 387-acre property near Nelson: Local residents’ negative reactions in recent weeks stemmed from a real-estate listing posted on the Lee County Industrial Development Association’s website – a listing that has since been removed – advertising a 387-acre property along Interstate 88 and U.S. 30 as being “prime data center development land.” Since then, a change.org petition has been gaining signatures from those against the possibility of a data center, a Dixon man was charged with threatening LCIDA’s executive director and county officials said it’s snowballed to the point where they’re receiving emails about it everyday.

* WSJ | Democrats Unveil Flood of AI Proposals in Potential Challenge to Tech Giants: Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) is proposing a bill that would ensure a human is involved when the Pentagon uses AI in weapons and protects against the technology’s use for domestic surveillance. The bill expands on existing Defense Department protocols. The proposal follows legislation that is similar in some ways to bills put forward recently by Sens. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) and Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.). Many of the bills were spurred by AI developer Anthropic’s recent spat with the Pentagon, which raised questions about the Defense Department’s guardrails for keeping a human involved when AI is used. The introduction of powerful models capable of carrying out cyberattacks, a backlash against data centers that power models and challenges for recent college graduates finding jobs have sparked the flurry of new bills, lawmakers said.