Illinois Governor Suspends Data Center Tax Incentives Following Energy Cost Disputes

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed an executive order to suspend state tax incentives for data centers after the state legislature abandoned measures intended to prevent energy costs from being passed to local residents' electricity bills.

The decision puts Pritzker at odds with organized labor unions, which have called for retaining tax breaks to allow union workers to participate in data center construction projects. Illinois follows a similar trend emerging across the U.S., where community opposition has delayed or canceled approximately $64 billion worth of data center development projects.