There are several ways local communities can navigate data center development proposals, including but not limited to:
- Enacting a temporary pause (moratorium) on new data center developments so local protections and impacts can be assessed
- Aurora Moratorium
- Champaign County (pages 27-29 of PDF)
- Fulton County
- Negotiating a transparent Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the data center developer
- Establishing conditional use permitting for data centers
- Passing zoning ordinances and/or municipal code amendments
- Ensure robust, transparent public engagement opportunities in deliberating on local data center proposals, land-use permits, ordinances and CBAs
- Avoid the use of confidentiality agreements with developers
More information about the local controls available to govern data centers in Illinois is available in this memorandum prepared by Steven A. Andersson, Partner, Nekritz Amdor Andersson Group LLC.
Community Benefits Agreements
A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is a contract that should be negotiated between a prospective developer and community representatives. The CBA specifies the benefits that the developer will provide to the community in exchange for the community’s support of its proposed project.
As data centers expand in Illinois and across the country, communities face new environmental and climate justice challenges, water contamination and depletion, air and noise pollution, excessive energy use and rising energy costs, quality of life concerns, and inequitable siting of data center development. A strong and enforceable Community Benefits Agreements can provide transparency, accountability, protection, and fair investments that protect community interests.
Common CBA benefits include but are not limited to: living-wage provisions, local hiring requirements, enhancing or providing community infrastructure like daycare centers, parks, bike and walking paths, a commitment to using clean energy, and mitigation of project harms. Because the agreements are negotiated between community coalitions and interested developers, the benefits are tailored to meet specific community needs. CBA negotiations may be initiated by a developer or by a community coalition, or in some cases they may be encouraged by city officials. Negotiations for the community are generally undertaken by representatives of individual community groups, but they may also involve local government officials. Public input should play an important role in determining community goals.
There are many examples of CBAs out there. The resources below are shared as examples, and are not intended to be presented as endorsed templates.
- The Alliance for the Great Lakes’ Regional Playbook for Managing Data Center Impacts in the Great Lakes includes more information about Community Benefits Agreements and a proposed checklist communities may want to discuss when considering a potential CBA.
- CBA Template: NAACP Community Benefits Agreement Template
- CBA Example: agreement between the City of Lancaster, PA and a data center developer
- CBA Template: this template is not data center specific, but offers an example of a CBA between a coalition and a developer
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