The Rochelle City Council voted 4-3 Monday to table a vote on a development agreement with a developer aiming to bring a potential data center to the city.

The 48-megawatt, 300,000-square-foot data center would be located north of Steward Road, west of the BNSF railroad and south of Interstate 88. The developer has owned the potential site since 2013, contacted the city in 2024 and has been working with it on the project since. If the development agreement is approved, the developer would then work to find a data center client to fit the project.

Mayor John Bearrows and City Council members Dan McDermott and Tom McDermott voted against tabling the matter Monday.

The city owns Rochelle Municipal Utilities, which would provide power, water, sewer and fiber services to a potential data center, and could procure its own power off the market and use RMU for billing and delivery. Interim City Manager and City Engineer Sam Tesreau detailed the potential development agreement Monday.

The developer, Midwest Power Investors, would pay for all $4.1 million in RMU electrical improvements for the project, including substation upgrades, a dedicated feeder and primary metering, plus potential overages. Conditions also were made that the developer would pay any needed RMU transmission charges above current levels.

The developer would also fund all city water and sewer infrastructure improvements needed, estimated to cost $2.8 million. The city would provide up to 50,000 gallons of water per day to the potential data center along with fiber optic service.

If it goes forward, the project would also require roadway improvements to Steward Road, including design, planning, widening, drainage, lighting, right of way and easements, which would also be paid for by Midwest Power Investors.

The developer would post surety bonds to make sure it pays for all required infrastructure improvements and power purchased to serve it.

The city would have “reasonable approval” over the appearance of the development, as well as suppression measures to reduce sound generated by the data center.

City officials have said in the past that the data center would bring 15-25 full-time jobs and that the project would also bring 500-800 temporary construction jobs.

The development agreement included language for potential second and third phases of the data center, which would see it expand to 100 megawatts and beyond 150 megawatts, respectively. Those future phases would require future agreements with the city and ComEd, which feeds power into Rochelle. The increased load would require transmission line reconductoring by ComEd.

The city would not incur any costs for the project or provide any incentive funds to the developer. The data center would be eligible for the state’s 50% property tax abatement for six years, as other businesses located within the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone area.

Rochelle already is home to two data centers, owned by Allstate and Northern Trust. Those data centers have been in Rochelle for 15 years and use a combined 7 megawatts of electricity. DeKalb is home to a Meta (Facebook) data center, which is about six times the size of the proposed project in Rochelle.

Benefits of the development agreement for the city and RMU, detailed out by Tesreau on Monday, would include expanded infrastructure along Steward Road, additional revenue to RMU in excess of $1 million and the city’s utility tax fund of about $400,000 annually, and additional property tax revenue to local taxing bodies.

The data center development would pay about $3.5 million in property taxes per year after construction, even with abatement. Rochelle school districts would receive about $2.1 million of that.

The city held a public meeting on the topic of the proposed data center development Nov. 18. The city has seen social media reaction to news of it talking with a developer about a data center. A petition, titled “Reject plans for a data center in Rochelle, Illinois,” had 830 signatures as of March 24.

Rochelle resident Megan Sneyd spoke during the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting, raising concerns about the amount of permanent and temporary jobs the data center would bring to town, resource consumption, and the developers not being local.

“We are putting a lot of trust in a development firm that is located in New York City to be good stewards for our community’s resources,” Sneyd said. “Midwest Power Investors does not have a stake in making responsible choices for the residents of Rochelle. They do not have to worry about the health ramifications, noise pollution or the effects to the local ecosystem that come along with this development.”

Bearrows, Tom McDermott, City Council members Ben Valdivieso and Kate Shaw-Dickey said Monday they would be against the potential second and third phases of the project at this time.

“Phase 1, I can take it or leave it,” Shaw-Dickey said. “But I don’t want more than a phase 1.”

Bearrows raised concerns about tying up RMU electric power capacity, and feedback from residents who are against the data center development. The mayor said Monday he would prefer industrial development in the city rather than a data center.

If the first phase of the data center located in Rochelle, RMU electric would have about 75 megawatts of power available remaining to serve additional customers.

“If we have this much extra power, I’d like to see more industry that creates jobs and helps our schools by bringing in more students,” Bearrows said. “Phase 1 is not a flat no from me. I could go either way. But if we’re going to focus our attention, let’s focus it on something we need. I think there’s better investments for our community long term.”

Following discussion, City Council member Bil Hayes made the motion to table the matter and postpone a vote to a future meeting.