Energy

As officials in Missouri and St. Louis try to attract data center proposals from companies, pushback grows in communities where the projects are planned. One expert says the economic benefit isn’t crystal clear.

The Illinois General Assembly will return for the annual fall veto session from Oct. 14-16 and Oct. 28-30 with several key items on its agenda.

After initial discussion over a possible temporary ban on data center development in the city, officials say they plan to avoid a moratorium and instead use existing frameworks to answer questions and concerns over the developments.

Mayor Cara Spencer says she supports a temporary pause on data center development in the city but not a full ban. The St. Louis Planning Commission voted Wednesday night to urge the city’s Board of Aldermen to enact a temporary moratorium on new data center development in an effort to give the city time to create rules for future projects.

Large data centers are coming to Missouri, and they need a lot of power. Right now, there aren’t regulations governing how they will use energy, so Ameren is working to develop new rules.

The secretive plans for a new 440-acre data center have attracted strong opposition from St. Charles residents.

The proposed power plant and energy storage facility would occupy a former coal plant.

Energy infrastructure can both cause, and be severely affected by, wildfires.

Budget talks took up most of the political bandwidth in the waning hours of the legislative session, leaving the big transit question unanswered, among other issues.

A renewable energy group is concerned the center’s funding may cloud its findings.