Risks of Rapid Data Center Load Growth in Illinois
On behalf of Sierra Club, Synapse analyzed the impacts of projected data center load growth in Illinois. Data centers are increasing electricity demand in Illinois and in other neighboring states that Illinois shares an electric grid with. This surge in demand comes just as the grid is preparing for increased load due to electrification efforts and ambitious climate goals. To assist with proactive planning for data centers, Synapse analyzed electric system costs, carbon dioxide emissions, resource builds, and residential bills using industry-standard electricity modeling.
We found that data centers could increase annual electricity requirements by 30 percent by 2040, compared to a future without any new data centers. Over the modeled time period (2025–2040), this translates into a residential bill increase of around 8.3 percent. Over this time period, we project that data center loads will cause an increase of 84 million short tons (64 percent increase) of carbon dioxide emissions in the ComEd region.
A factsheet summarizing our findings and a more detailed slide deck are linked below.