Sep 25, 2026 · 25 min · 18 segments
Crain’s healthcare reporter Jon Asplund joins host Jeanne Sparrow to discuss how Illinois is fighting keep the…
Jeanne SparrowHostJohn AsplundGuest
Ukraine's John Pletz reports Illinois lawmakers are gearing up to tackle the growing controversy surrounding massive data center developments across the state.
Governor J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday that the General Assembly will consider major new regulations for the industry during the upcoming veto session scheduled for mid-November and early December.
The announcement comes as local opposition to the energy-hungry facilities reaches a boiling point.
Over the summer, Pritzker paused new tax incentives for data centers after lawmakers adjourned without passing regulations.
Pritzker says a state working group is actively crafting a compromise bill dubbed the Power Act.
The proposed legislation aims to protect local residents while keeping Illinois competitive.
Governor Pritzker said, quote, we want to make sure that people have their local say, there's transparency about the deals that are being done, but importantly, what we don't want is for anybody's power bill to go up or their water bill to go up because there are data centers coming to the state, end quote.
The governor says the bill will likely require data center developers to bring their own clean energy sources to the grid, use closed-loop water systems, and give local communities a voice in project approvals.
Environmentalists fear the facilities will derail the state's clean energy goals.
Ukraine's John Pletz reports Illinois lawmakers are gearing up to tackle the growing controversy surrounding massive data center developments across the state.
Governor J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday that the General Assembly will consider major new regulations for the industry during the upcoming veto session scheduled for mid-November and early December.
The announcement comes as local opposition to the energy-hungry facilities reaches a boiling point.
Over the summer, Pritzker paused new tax incentives for data centers after lawmakers adjourned without passing regulations.
Pritzker says a state working group is actively crafting a compromise bill dubbed the Power Act.
The proposed legislation aims to protect local residents while keeping Illinois competitive.
Governor Pritzker said, quote, we want to make sure that people have their local say, there's transparency about the deals that are being done, but importantly, what we don't want is for anybody's power bill to go up or their water bill to go up because there are data centers coming to the state, end quote.
The governor says the bill will likely require data center developers to bring their own clean energy sources to the grid, use closed-loop water systems, and give local communities a voice in project approvals.
Environmentalists fear the facilities will derail the state's clean energy goals.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.