Take Action: Protect Illinois from Data Center Harms
2/20/26
Urge your legislators in the Illinois General Assembly to co-sponsor and vote YES on the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) to promote transparency around data centers and their impact on Illinois communities.
EMAIL TEMPLATE
Subject Line: Illinois must act to protect transparency around data centers' community impacts.
Representative/Senator _____,
As your constituent, I ask you to co-sponsor and vote yes on the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) to promote transparency and to protect our Illinois communities from data center harms.
Data centers are not required to report or disclose how much water they use and consume each day and therefore are not required to keep track of their water usage. Our communities need transparency and public reporting to be able to plan for water demand, sustainably manage water use to prevent depletion of aquifers, appropriately adapt water and wastewater rates to protect consumers, and to ensure potentially toxic waste from data centers is properly regulated and discarded.
Our clean air is at risk. Without the additional policies in the POWER Act, data center energy load growth will increase use of fossil fuel plants, also, data centers use diesel backup generators that fill the air with dangerous pollution.
And especially our vulnerable communities are at risk. Local communities deserve transparency around the full impact that data centers will have. The POWER Act mandates transparent community engagement, closes pollution loopholes, and establishes protections for environmental justice communities.
The bottom line: With the POWER Act, Illinois has the opportunity to continue its leadership on climate and protect public transparency.
I urge you to co-sponsor and vote yes on the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) in the spring legislative session.
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