Champaign County Residents Organize Grassroots Push to Block AI Data Centers

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A grassroots coalition in Champaign County has emerged in recent months to fight against the proposed construction of large-scale AI data centers, driven by a one-year moratorium on new data center development and a wave of developer interest in the region.

The group, known as "Resist AI Data Centers Champaign County," grew out of the Champaign Data Center Activities Task Force, a nine-member county committee established after Champaign County voted to pause new data center construction on April 23. The task force has held monthly meetings since then to examine the county's ability to regulate data centers.

Ruth Yontz, a former University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty member, and Antonia Herbstreit, a former health care professional, first met at a task force meeting on June 1. The two had never spoken before that session but found common cause in their concerns about the environmental, economic, and health impacts of large data centers.

"Seeing our power bills go up, electricity bills go up, the tremendous use of water, the chemicals that are put into those [AI centers], and then what happens to that water when it goes into the environment, the farmland, the wildlife," Yontz said in an interview with CU-CitizenAccess.org, a local nonprofit news outlet.

The group began holding public educational meetings at the Champaign Public Library in July. More than 50 people attended the first session, and the second draw, held on Aug. 10, pulled in around 70 attendees. The coalition has since grown to more than 600 followers.

Steering members include Yontz, Herbstreit, Cele Otnes, a former university faculty member; Kimberlie Kranich, an independent journalist and former Illinois Public Media employee; and Bryana Davis, an optician at Carle Health and the group's youngest steering member.

Health and environmental concerns

Herbstreit, who has worked in health care, focused on what she described as the human cost of large data centers, including the potential for "forever chemicals" known as PFAS in the water used by the facilities.

"PFAS are forever chemicals. They attack your endocrine system. They're very bad for children, seniors, and chronically ill," Herbstreit said.

The group also raised concerns about noise. Data centers generate sound from cooling systems, ventilation equipment, and backup generators. According to Indiana University's Environmental Resilience Institute, external noise from data centers can range from 55 to 85 decibels or higher. The World Health Organization has linked excessive noise exposure to an increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, sleep disturbance, and hearing problems.

Davis added that the group is also concerned about the connection between AI data centers and mass surveillance.

"They're very worried about environmental factors like energy use and costs, which are all very important," Davis said. "But I think what's most scary and most insidious is how AI data centers are going to be connected to the mass surveillance scheme."

Kranich, who came to Champaign after coming upon a large Meta data center under construction in Lebanon, Ind., in 2025, said the scale of the project left a lasting impression.

"These data centers are going to help promote the surveillance state, whether it's Flock camera data or drone data," Kranich said. "AI data centers are not just risks to the environment. The risk for our liberty, for our freedom, for our democracy."

Developers in the picture

The resistance effort comes as multiple data center companies have reportedly approached Champaign County communities.

In October 2025, Clean Cloud Energy contacted several Champaign County officials about a proposed data center project, according to an email released in a Freedom of Information Act request. The Mahomet Daily reported that village officials had been in contact with Clean Cloud Energy as early as December 2025 and signed nondisclosure agreements with the developer.

The Village of Mahomet recently ended its discussions with Clean Cloud Energy following public backlash. Village President Jason Tompkins said community feedback played a central role in the decision.

"At the end of the day, you know, it's the job of the developer to convince the community board that this has happened. And so it has to be, you know, a two way street," Tompkins told WCIA.

John Hall, the director of the Champaign County Department of Planning and Zoning, confirmed over email that ABEI Energy has expressed interest in the Tolono area and that Nodiac has expressed interest in a smaller data center near Sidney. Hall said there are no formal applications from either company at this time.

Tolono Village President Terrence Stuber said the village is not having talks with any data center developers at this time.

What the group is pushing for

The resistance group is working to build public awareness and to teach residents how to make public comments during board meetings and how to communicate with county officials.

Herbstreit also traveled to Springfield in May to lobby for the Illinois POWER Act, a data center regulation bill, alongside the Prairie Rivers Network. The group gathered contact information from other attendees who supported the legislation.

County officials have maintained in multiple meetings that the county does not have the authority to ban an entire industry and that a full ban could expose the county to lawsuits. Otnes said the group is aware of that legal reality.

"We do feel that that ordinance needs to be as strict as possible, where we're still not banning the industry," Otnes said. "It should be strict enough to discourage companies from considering Champaign County."

Yontz said the group sees the resistance itself as a deterrent.

"Data center development companies do not want to go to communities where there's lots of resistance," Yontz said. "So maybe this resistance then puts us at the bottom of the list instead of at the top of the list."

Looking ahead

Maria Tucker, a member of the group, said she is also focused on the region's shared water resources, including the Mahomet aquifer.

"If we stop the data centers in Champaign and they build it in DeWitt County, it's not going to serve us the purpose," Tucker said at a group meeting on Aug. 25.

Champaign County is currently seeking legal counsel to help shape data center regulations, following the failure of the state-level POWER Act. The county task force is expected to continue meeting monthly as the moratorium clock ticks down toward its April expiration.