Local opposition to a proposed Joliet data center resurged at the same time that state regulators issued a report that the facilities are driving a future electricity shortage in Illinois.

Potentially one of the biggest data centers in the state is proposed for land on the border of Joliet.

HW Technology Park Development, a division of Texas-based Hillwood, wants to build a 795-acre data center in an area south of the Chicagoland Speedway that would be annexed to Joliet, according to plans presented to the city.

“The City Council should know that this project is unpopular,” said Noah Martinez of Crest Hill, one of 20 people speaking against the data center at a City Council meeting Dec. 16.

The data center was not on the council agenda. But the project was open for discussion, as it was at a Plan Commission meeting last month, when 19 people spoke against the plan during a public comment period.

“There are a lot more people who could not make it tonight who are against this,” Isabel Gloria of Joliet told the City Council.

The data center is seen by opponents as a threat to public health, the environment and jobs, since such facilities support the development of artificial intelligence that, among other things, is being developed to do work otherwise done by humans.

The local pushback against the proposed data center has been led by a younger crowd than typically appears to oppose development projects.

“A lot of you are the same age as my son,” council member Larry Hug said, noting that his son is 27.

Council members said no decisions have been made on the project.

“I assure you we are going to do all of our due diligence before any decision is made,” Mayor Terry D’Arcy said.

The data center proposal initially was slated to go to the Plan Commission in October for consideration. But it was pulled off the agenda amid growing opposition and has since been tabled indefinitely.

The plan was not scheduled for any upcoming meeting of the Plan Commission or City Council as of Friday, Joliet Community Development Director Dustin Anderson said.

“We are still doing our due diligence on this project,” Anderson said in an email. “We need more time to continue our research and engage the community before making any decision.”

Among the concerns about data centers is that their heavy demand for electrical power is a big factor in the rising cost of electricity bills.

The night before the council meeting, state government agencies issued a “2025 Resource Adequacy Study” that warned of an upcoming electricity shortage in Illinois.

The report identifies data centers as “the primary driver of load growth,” or electricity demand, in Illinois.

Electricity supplies under current conditions are adequate through 2030, according to the report.

“But a shortfall is projected to emerge in 2031 and grow thereafter,” according to the report from the Illinois Commerce Commission, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Power Agency.

Meanwhile, Hillwood and Powerhouse Data Centers, the partners in the Joliet project, have developed a website seeking petition signatures in support of the plan.

The website, joliettechnology.com, contends that the data center would create between 7,000 and 10,000 construction jobs as it is built.

Among other benefits promoted by developers is that “energy upgrades required for this project will not be passed on to ComEd customers, ensuring grid improvements come without added ratepayer burden.”