Troy Cloverleaf Data Center, Troy, Illinois

Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a data center land developer based in Houston and Seattle, wants to build a 500 megawatt data center on farmland on the southwest side of Troy, in Madison County, Illinois, near the US 40 and Interstate 55-70 interchange. Troy has since capped any data center in the city at 30 megawatts and extended a moratorium on data centers to next March, and Mayor David Nonn says no council member supports the project.

Jeff Lake, Cloverleaf's principal development manager, laid out the plan to 40 to 50 residents at a special planning commission meeting on January 8, 2026: "Our business model is to identify sites based on power; power is the king in this space." He said 500 megawatts would need 250 to 300 acres, with a first phase of six buildings on 165 acres and a full build of four buildings on 275 acres that would close part of Collinsville and Formosa roads and mostly surround Bethel Church.

Lake promised 1,000 to 2,000 construction jobs, up to 200 permanent jobs paying at least $80,000 a year, closed loop cooling, completion in late 2028, and no nondisclosure agreements for public officials. Bobby Williams, chief executive of Southwestern Electric, said the local cooperative peaks at 118 megawatts, so the data center would be four times its size. "I can tell you, standing here today, if this data center comes in or it does not, electric rates aren't going to stabilize," he said.

On January 20, more than 100 people packed the council chamber to hear 15 speakers, although data centers were not on the agenda, and Bethel Baptist Church sent a contingent. "Though it's still its beginnings, this is an existential crisis for us," said Nicholas Martin, head of school at Bethel Academy. "My son goes to daycare right across the street from where this is proposed," said Viktor Varnaitis.

Hundreds more filled Triad High School on February 10, 2026, for a session Cloverleaf hosted. "We're not an industrial town. We're a small rural town. There is nowhere you can put this here that it won't impact somebody," said Derrick Ramert, of Troy Residents for Responsible Growth. Chuck Hopper asked: "Now, who's going to buy my house when they sit on that back porch and they're faced with this humming big building?"

Lake said there was a process to widen buffers, add trees or otherwise reduce sound, and a large group of union members came in support of the jobs. Police were at that meeting because days earlier a 33-year-old Trenton man had been charged with intimidation, a felony, and electronic harassment, after charging documents said he used public Facebook pages to threaten to kill Troy officials or contractors over the project; he is presumed innocent.

On February 10, Mayor Nonn and three aldermen met Cloverleaf and asked what it would commit toward a $50 million sewer plant, water plant upgrades, electric bills and property tax relief. "Once again, they did not have any answers," Nonn told the February 17 council meeting, adding: "I can tell you at this point that no council member is [and I'm not] in support of a data center in the City of Troy."

The same day, Madison County Board chairman Chris Slusser said the two Troy sites were not compatible with data center development and proposed redeveloping the Route 3 corridor instead. The council adopted a six-month moratorium on March 16, 2026; building and zoning director Ann Byrd said city attorney Fred Keck "is able to defend six months."

In June, the Times-Tribune reported there would be no hyperscale data centers in Troy, with data centers capped at 30 megawatts, and city engineer Tom Cissell laid out a three-step approval process for new industrial zoning, with two council readings and three chances for the public to speak.

On September 10, the planning commission voted 5-0 to extend the moratorium until next March, so the city can see what the state legislature does after Illinois paused its data center incentives. The extension goes to the city council next.