Naperville city council denies controversial plan for large data center
The short version: Naperville's city council said no to a data center proposed for the old Lucent campus, proof that local pushback can still stop the buildout cold.
Our Take
Credit to ABC 7 Chicago for covering this one live as it happened — a late-night council vote that actually went against the industry playbook. Naperville residents didn't just grumble at a public hearing and watch the project sail through anyway. They showed up, asked hard questions about noise, water draw, and what an old telecom campus turned server farm would really mean for their neighborhood, and the council listened.
This matters because most of these deals don't end this way. Across the country, city councils and county boards are approving data centers on fast-tracked timelines, often with tax abatements locked in before neighbors even know a project is on the table. Naperville is a reminder that these are still local land-use decisions, decided by people who can be voted out, and that a 'no' is always on the table if enough residents make noise before the gavel falls.
Every one of these fights, won or lost, is a data point on how this buildout is actually reshaping American communities. Check our facility map to see what's proposed or already running near you, and if there's a project moving through your local council right now, our take-action page has what you need to show up before the vote, not after.
This is GridWatch the USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of ABC 7 Chicago, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.