Chicago Construction News staff writer
A $20-billion data center proposal in Joliet has cleared a key hurdle, with the city’s planning commission recommending approval of the project. The proposal includes the annexation of a 795-acre parcel near S. Rowell Road and Bernhard Road, rezoning the land for light industrial use, and a preliminary planned unit development.
The Joliet City Council is scheduled to vote on the project March 16.
The Joliet Technology Center, to be developed by PowerHouse Data Centers, is expected to generate 7,000 to 10,000 union construction jobs. The developer has pledged to partner with local educational institutions to expand technical training programs aligned with construction and technology careers, targeting local residents for the new roles.
The campus plan calls for 24 two-story data center buildings, each 144,500 square feet, to be built in four phases. Each phase will include a six-acre substation. The development is projected to offer up to 1.8GW of capacity and will independently secure and pay for its own electricity, according to the staff report.
Union contractors and trades were well represented at the March 5 commission meeting. Tom White, executive director of Three Rivers Construction Alliance, spoke in support.
“We are here to urge you to vote yes on this,” White said. “You’ll see a lot of gentlemen in the room with us … some of them are here because they are hoping to get a job at some point. It’s going be a good project for us.”
Doc Gregory, business representative of Chicago Pipefitters Local 597, echoed the call, emphasizing the need for local construction opportunities.
“We have had some data centers that had come to Will County and were lost,” he said. “We lost them to neighboring states … and my own members had to leave the state to get work. We need a project like this in our backyard.”
Despite the support from union representatives, the proposal faced opposition from residents, with hundreds attending the meeting and dozens speaking against the campus.
