Governor JB Pritzker is putting the brakes on new state agreements for data center projects as lawmakers continue debating how to regulate the rapidly growing industry.

The Governor announced Thursday that the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will pause processing new agreements under the state's Data Center Investment Program beginning July 1st.

The move comes as data centers have become a topic of discussion in several Illinois communities, including Christian County, where local officials have been exploring the possibility of attracting a future data center project.

Pritzker says Illinois must balance economic development with concerns about electricity costs, energy reliability, water usage, and environmental impacts. The Governor says data centers can consume as much electricity as a mid-sized city and, in some cases, millions of gallons of water per day.

The administration is calling for a comprehensive statewide policy that would require data centers to pay more of the infrastructure costs they create, support the development of new clean energy sources, and provide greater transparency to local communities.

The Governor is also proposing a pause on state tax incentives for future data center developments while lawmakers continue studying the industry's long-term impact.

Existing incentive agreements already approved by the state will not be affected.

Pritzker is urging legislators, consumer advocates, local governments, utilities, environmental groups, labor organizations, and industry leaders to work together on legislation during the fall veto session.

While this announcement does not prevent a data center from locating in Christian County, it could affect future state incentive agreements that developers may seek as part of a project.

The Village of Wapella has lifted the village-wide boil order issued earlier in the week to undergo water tower maintenance.

Residents of the Village of Wapella are no longer urged to boil their water to be used for consumption, as a bacteriological sample has shown that the water is now safe. 

Keep your eyes on taylorvilledailynews.com for updates on boil orders, weather events, and more!

Visitors to the Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce’s website will now see a new way to find member businesses.  It’s called “Chamber Professionals,” and the feature is designed to help community members find businesses which provide the goods or services they need.  The Chamber’s Operations Coordinator April Wolfe says the change is part of the larger overhaul of the website. 

Chamber members will have the opportunity to attend the member appreciation breakfast happening Thursday, June 18 at the Pillars Event Center in Taylorville. 

The Taylorville Chamber also continues to prepare for Chillifest.  Despite recent construction in the city, the festival will again take place on the Taylorville square. 

More information on the Greater Taylorville Chamber of Commerce is available at www.taylorvillechamber.com.

April Wolfe appeared as a guest on the WTIM Morning Show. 

At this time, the beach at Lake Taylorville is closed following a water sample from the lake showing the water to not be safe for swimming.

Once a sample can be taken showing that the lake water is safe to swim in again, the City of Taylorville, alongside health officials urge residents and visitors to stay out of the water until further notice. 

Stay tuned to taylorvilledailynews.com for an update once the lake is safe again and has reopened

In the midst of the final night of a recent legislative session, the Illinois House of Representatives passed House Bill 1700 (HB1700), a bill which modifies various clean energy and utility programs.

The bill provides amended provisions for multiple new energy facilities. Those energy facilities include new wind power facilities, utility-scale solar facilities, and battery energy storage solution facilities. The freshly passed bill allows for costs associated with the Illinois Solar for all Program to be paid through the program year, which is projected to conclude on May 31, 2028.

During floor debate on the bill, State Representative Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) said the government regulation that's done in the House, in this Senate, in this building is making it economically unfeasible for Illinois energy facilities to operate.
 
 

Halbrook told the bill's sponsor every time one of these bills come, we see trailer bills to solve problems that was created in the previous bill and no relief for the rate payer.  He asked when we will see relief for rate payers that have faced double and triple energy bills throughout last summer and will see continued increases this summer.

This bill now moves on to the Senate for further consideration and approval.

For more information or the status on senate and house bills that are currently undergoing discussions, or have passed legislation, visit www.ilga.gov.

Taylorville High School has its first-ever female individual state champion in IHSA-sanctioned sports.  Elsie Williamson took top spot in the Class 2A girls discus competition at the state championships at Eastern Illinois University in May.  The Tornadoes supplied further representation in Elayna Harker, who competed in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

Williamson says her title run is the culmination of years of work and the realization of the potential she saw in herself. 

As for Harker, she overcame health-related challenges to finish fifth in the 3200-meter run at this year’s championships. 

Harker, Williamson, and their many teammates had to train and compete amid turnover in the head coaching roles of the boys and girls teams.  They credit the incoming head coach, Jacob Koniak, for his dedication to the teams. 

The two athletes say training with the other members of the team has strengthened the interpersonal bonds between them and their teammates and has also pushed them toward success.

The full results of the Class 2A girls track and field state championships can be found here.  More information on Taylorville High School is available at ths.tcusd3.org.

Elayna Harker and Elsie Williamson appeared as guests on the WTIM Morning Show as part of our monthly Taylorville Schools Good News Segment. 

The Taylorville City Council members met for a specialized meeting with several Business owners who have storefronts or restaurants on the Taylorville Square. The meeting was to discuss a new DECO construction project, set to be decided on in October. 

At the meeting, Taylorville Mayor Bruce Barry and the Taylorville Aldermen opened up the meeting to the business owners so that they could observe and discuss the new design proposal, drawn up by Benton Engineering. An engineer from Benton Engineering, Bill Seeman, presented this new design as the first render of what they think would work for giving the Taylorville Square a long-awaited facelift. 

According to Seeman, this design is just a first proposal. Seeman also said that the design is subject to changes and that he wanted input from the affected businesses. The concerns of the business owners were how long construction would take to finish, what their plans were for sidewalks outside, and how parking would work once this new design came to fruition. Seeman mentioned making the design more accessible for patrons and that there are still some undecided factors.

The big plan was to improve the Taylorville Square for the next generation of people. Seeman also mentioned that the plans are not finalized yet and that the input of the business owners from the square would ultimately help Benton mold the finalized design plan.

A last topic of discussion, was on the installation of public restrooms to be used for the shoppers on the square, The idea was accepted, and called a "great idea" by some of the local business owners, as the new public restrooms would keep shoppers on the square from leaving the area to utilize a restroom, hence keeping the business open and the foot traffic around for longer durations. The restrooms, if decided to be built, will be placed into a building located within easy walking distance from the square off of Main Cross and would be open during regular square business hours.

The matter of discussion and approval on the new public restrooms will be discussed and officially decided on at a later date.

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Barry thanked everyone for coming and providing their input on both the public restroom proposal and the new DECO project for the town square.

Pictured below is the drawing for the design project's current proposal, along with a key to help read the map.

For more news like this or to stay up to date with city council matters, keep following taylorvilledailynews.com.