Morgan County Commissioner Seeks Year-Long Study on Proposed Data Centers

Morgan County Commissioner Michael Woods put the county on notice Monday: when it comes to data centers, move carefully or risk losing the ability to move at all.

Woods asked the Morgan County Board to place a proposed resolution on the agenda for its May 4 meeting, calling for a formal 12-month study period that would apply to any data center project proposed within the county's boundaries. If adopted, the resolution would require the county to examine each project's potential impacts on electrical grid capacity, water usage, zoning regulations, and economic development before any approval could proceed.

"We are seeing increasing signals from the state and on both sides of the alley that local control on projects like this may not always be guaranteed," Woods said. "This is exactly why we must be proactive."

Woods added that targeting a May 4 vote "gives Morgan County residents a chance to share their thoughts on and talk about the proposal."

Whether the item actually reaches the May 4 agenda is not guaranteed. Board Chair Michael Wankel said the decision rests with him, and the board may vote on it that day only if there is room on the agenda.

The proposal arrives as data center scrutiny intensifies across central Illinois. A proposed $500 million data center by Dallas-based CyrusOne remains in regulatory limbo after the Sangamon County Board voted in late March to table the zoning proposal, 15 to 13. That project, planned for Talkington Township southwest of Springfield near Waverly, drew debate over land use, grid capacity, and water supply. The Journal-Courier has reported that Morgan County groups separately killed a proposed moratorium while approving a recommendation for a data center near Waverly, signaling the issue has already drawn local attention before Woods' study proposal was introduced.

The broader regional backdrop gives weight to Woods' concern about state-level interference. From Illinois, where Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed suspending tax incentives for data centers, to Texas, where counties are debating moratoriums, more policymakers are reaching for a formal pause on new data center projects while states sort out what the industry is doing to electric grids, water supplies, and land use. The Logan County Board recently passed a 60-day moratorium on data center applications as a project near Latham remains pending.

Woods' draft study, which he provided to the board, covers all proposed data center projects within Morgan County's geographic limits. The four-part review framework covering electrical infrastructure, water, zoning, and economic development reflects concerns that have surfaced repeatedly in neighboring counties as large-scale facilities seek to come online across central Illinois.

The May 4 meeting remains the next critical date. If Chair Wankel places the resolution on the agenda and the board votes to adopt it, Morgan County would become one of the few Illinois counties to establish a structured, year-long review framework for data center projects rather than evaluating proposals case by case.