Data Centers | March 9, 2026
Joliet advances a $20 billion data center; Monterey Park voters will decide a citywide ban in June; new moratoriums approved.
At A Glance 🔽
- Joliet, IL: $20B campus recommended for approval. Council vote March 16.
- Monterey Park, CA: Council votes twice: moratorium extended, ban heads to June ballot.
- Louisville, KY: West Louisville data center approved.
- Fort Worth, TX: 80 more acres up for rezoning on a 450-acre campus near Weston Gardens.
- Scioto Township, OH: 12-month moratorium enacted after board rejects shorter pause.
- Zeeland Township, MI: One-year moratorium on data center applications approved.
- Tucson, AZ: Final public meeting held. Staff drafting strict new regulations for June.
JOLIET, Illinois
Dane Artisola
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Joliet's planning commission recommended approval of the $20 billion "Joliet Technology Center", a proposed 795-acre data center campus that drew hundreds of opponents to city hall.
The commission voted to recommend annexation, rezoning to light industrial, and a preliminary planned unit development for what would be the largest data center in Illinois. Developer PowerHouse Data Centers, part of the Perot family's Hillwood Holding, plans 24 two-story buildings offering up to 1.8 GW of capacity across four phases. The campus would generate an estimated $310 million in property taxes and $40 million in utility taxes over 30 years — without tax abatements.
MONTEREY PARK, California
Dane Artisola
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Monterey Park's city council handed organizers a sweeping victory, approving to extend the data center moratorium by 10.5 months and to put a ban before voters in a special June election. Council members also discussed layering on an ordinance.
The moves target an Australian asset manager's proposed 247,000-square-foot facility on Saturn Street. The "No Data Center in Monterey Park" group, which formed in December, gathered 5,300 petition signatures and packed a six-hour council meeting. Organizers aren't celebrating just yet: the developer's attorneys accused the city of "ill will and bias" in a February letter and threatened litigation.
Learn more about Data Centers in Monterey Park, California.
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky
Read about Data Centers in Louisville, KY.
Louisville's Metro Planning Commission approved a revised site plan for a west Louisville data center, overriding a heated public hearing where dozens raised concerns about electricity costs.
The project, pursued by Poe Companies and PowerHouse Data Centers, sits on land already approved years ago as a "telecommunications hotel" – a designation that allows a data center. Because the zoning was never changed, there was no way to reverse it once a developer stepped in. Commissioner Te'Andre Sistrunk pushed for a delay until Metro Council writes clearer data center regulations, but the majority moved forward.
Dane Artisola
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FORT WORTH, Texas
Developer Black Mountain Power is asking Fort Worth City Council to rezone 80 additional acres near the historic Weston Gardens, adding to a proposed 450-acre data center campus that would effectively surround the demonstration gardens, which date to the 1930s.
Owner Sue Weston said she hasn't been provided a site plan or any environmental impact studies. "450 acres and you don't know where anything goes is crazy, in my opinion," she said. Councilmember Michael Crain, who supports the project, said the completed campus would add hundreds of millions to the city's tax base. But, Weston is organizing neighbors to demand more transparency before any additional land is rezoned.
SCIOTO TOWNSHIP, Ohio
Scioto Township trustees enacted a 12-month moratorium on data center developments after a heated debate over the length of the pause.
Trustee Wolfe pushed for six months, arguing zoning updates could be finished in that timeframe. Others countered that six months wouldn't be enough to draft legally airtight regulations. The board ultimately held firm on a full year. The township is working to overhaul a zoning code that currently contains little to no language addressing large-scale data center facilities.
ZEELAND TOWNSHIP, Michigan
Zeeland Township's planning commission approved a one-year moratorium on data center applications as the township works to develop regulations for large-scale energy projects.
Page 26 - 27 | March 3, 2026 Township Board Mtg Packet
Township Manager Josh Eggleston said the pause gives officials time to research and build a legitimate review process "out of respect for any applicants too." The moratorium also clears the way for the planning commission to finalize a renewable energy ordinance, a prerequisite for local permitting of a proposed 200-megawatt, 1,900-acre solar farm by RWE Clean Energy that has drawn its own pushback from farming families concerned about losing agricultural land.
TUCSON, Arizona
Tucson city staff held their final public meeting on proposed data center regulations, where attendees arrived with signs opposing large-scale facilities and one longtime resident argued they "should be banned" from the desert entirely.
The city currently has no regulations for data centers over 50,000 square feet. Staff is now building what planning administrator Dan Bursuck called "the most restrictive process possible," including a multi-step review, notification of property owners within half a mile, and a prohibition on generator use except for emergencies. A proposed 400-foot setback from homes and schools is drawing scrutiny over whether it's sufficient. The regulations head to a council study session April 7, with a target for final approval in June.
Tucson, AZ: Data Centers Unified Development Code Amendment
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