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Data centers in Ogle County, Illinois: 1 project mapped
Rochelle turned down Ogle County's only data center proposal on April 27, 2026, when the City Council voted unanimously to deny a development agreement with Midwest Power Investors. Its Project Crossroads would have been a 300,000-square-foot building using 48 megawatts of power, north of Steward Road, west of the BNSF railroad and south of Interstate 88. The developer has owned the land since 2013 and planned to find a data center tenant only after the agreement was signed.
The size was the sticking point. Rochelle's three existing data centers, owned by Allstate, Northern Trust and the city, use about 7 megawatts combined, and the largest customer of city-owned Rochelle Municipal Utilities draws about 10. "I don't think 48 megawatts is a project we need in this community," Council member Kate Shaw-Dickey said. The developer dropped its plans for later phases of 100 and more than 150 megawatts at the meeting, but the vote still went against it.
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Mayor John Bearrows cited limits on the two transmission lines that feed the city: "there are many unknown risks that have not been talked about. The largest of which is electric." A petition against the project grew from 280 signatures in February to 1,018 by April 28. Resident Christian Bailey, an electrician who works in the data center field, told the council: "The developer does not live here. We do."
The county's other prospect is the land around the Byron nuclear plant. In August 2024 the County Board rezoned 524 acres there from farmland to industrial at the request of the plant's owner, Constellation Energy. Board chairman Bruce Larson said in January 2025 that an AI data center was on the table but no decision had been made, and that any project would need a special use permit from the County Board.
Data center projects on record in Ogle County
Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.
Rochelle1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LFF IndustrialRochelle | Midwest Power Investors / LFF Industrial | Blocked | 48 MW |
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Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.