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After Johnson and three aldermen proposed a one-year pause on
new data center development or expansion, the mayor said a
corporate-aligned member of city council sent the ordinance to
the rules committee instead of having it discussed by a joint
committee of zoning and environment.
“I remain committed to instituting this moratorium so that we
can set strong standards to protect our communities and the
environment,” Johnson said.
Brad Tietz, director of state government affairs - Midwest for
the Data Center Coalition, said Chicago will never be a
significant hub for large-scale data center development.
“So it's a bit perplexing to us as to why you would shut the
door for a year and send the signal to this industry that
creates significant property taxes,” Tietz told The Center
Square.
Johnson’s office has projected a budget deficit of $882.4
million for 2027.
Tietz said, in suburban Elk Grove Village, data centers generate
four to six times more property tax revenue than traditional
properties.
Tietz said a moratorium would also prevent long-term
construction opportunities for union workers.
“The mayor claims to care about union work. He's impacting it
with this. And on the clean energy side, 84% of the renewable
purchases done nationally in the first half of 2025 were done by
the data center industries,” Tietz said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he does not want to stop data centers
from being built, but he is not opposed to local moves like
Johnson is proposing for Chicago.
“They have the ability to do that, and they should if they don't
want one in their communities. There are places that want them,”
Pritzker said in Monee on Thursday.
When asked if his administration had assessed the risk of
potential litigation against a moratorium, Johnson said his team
is constantly assessing how policy it puts forward can withstand
any legal challenges.
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