Data centers in Effingham County, Illinois: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Effingham's newest data center is a small one built to run on its own solar power. Gail Technology, a Bannockburn company led by Anthony Donato, is building a data center and solar array on leased farmland at 15244 E. 1700th Avenue on the north side of the city, the Effingham Daily News reported. The project is already under construction; there is no pending vote or rezoning fight over it.

IAG Investments owns the land; a solar developer builds the array, batteries and the data center shell on it, and Gail Technology leases the computing to customers for artificial intelligence and Web3 work, chief financial officer Nick Mahoney said. He said the solar should power the site around the clock with battery backup, with surplus power sold to Ameren, and that the company would ask customers to switch servers off for a few hours when grid demand and prices spike. Gail Technology has partnered with Pheasants Forever to plant grasses and flowers between the panels, and the farmland can return to farming when its 25-year lease ends.

Mahoney compared the project to 10 similar Gail Technology sites already running in central Illinois. DatacenterDynamics has reported that the company's LinkedIn page suggests its sites are cryptomining facilities, and that three of Donato's related solar projects were financed in 2024 for a combined 9.24 megawatts of power. Effingham has a one-year pause on new data center applications in effect through June 2027, though it does not apply to this already-approved project.

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.