Mayor Johnson wants City Council to pause data center expansion
<p>Chicago should impose a temporary moratorium on new or expanded data centers until permanent regulations are established to mitigate their impact on the power grid, the water supply and the environment, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday in a move that an influential alderperson called a “political stunt.”</p><p>Johnson also signed an executive order establishing regulatory guardrails aimed at strengthening the city's approach toward data center development. </p><p></p><p>Two years ago, the City Council approved an ordinance championed by Zoning Committee Chair Gilbert Villegas (36th) that created a working group on data centers with input from affected city departments.</p><p>Preliminary recommendations on how to regulate the controversial industry have been released and were the focus of a recent hearing in the City Council’s Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection.</p><p>With those steps already taken, Villegas argued that Johnson’s executive order is unnecessary.
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<p>Chicago should impose a temporary moratorium on new or expanded data centers until permanent regulations are established to mitigate their impact on the power grid, the water supply and the environment, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday in a move that an influential alderperson called a “political stunt.”</p><p>Johnson also signed an executive order establishing regulatory guardrails aimed at strengthening the city's approach toward data center development. </p><p></p><p>Two years ago, the City Council approved an ordinance championed by Zoning Committee Chair Gilbert Villegas (36th) that created a working group on data centers with input from affected city departments.</p><p>Preliminary recommendations on how to regulate the controversial industry have been released and were the focus of a recent hearing in the City Council’s Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection.</p><p>With those steps already taken, Villegas argued that Johnson’s executive order is unnecessary. Villegas said the mayor should merely introduce an ordinance that codifies the working group’s recommendations.</p><p>“This is just another political stunt by the mayor to say that he did something, given the fact that data centers right now are unpopular,” Villegas said Tuesday. “This is like the 100th executive order by this administration, instead of going through the regular ordinance process..." </p><p>Data centers have drawn fire in Chicago and across the country because of their potential to negatively affect the environment, drain water supplies and drive up energy costs.
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- <p>Chicago should impose a temporary moratorium on new or expanded data centers until permanent regulations are established to mitigate their impact on the power grid, the water supply and the environment, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday in a move that an influential alderperson called a “political stunt.”</p><p>Johnson also signed an executive order establishing regulatory guardrails aimed at strengthening the city's approach toward data center development. </p><p></p><p>Two years ago, the City Council approved an ordinance championed by Zoning Committee Chair Gilbert Villegas (36th) that created a working group on data centers with input from affected city departments.</p><p>Preliminary recommendations on how to regulate the controversial industry have been released and were the focus of a recent hearing in the City Council’s Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection.</p><p>With those steps already taken, Villegas argued that Johnson’s executive order is unnecessary.
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Mayor Johnson wants City Council to pause data center expansion
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