Data centers in Will County, Illinois: 3 projects mapped

3 projects tracked

1 proposed or being built

1 stopped or paused

1 with no stage on record

2,100 MW across all 2 active projects

1 moratorium or ban in effect

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Tracked projectStopped or pausedBigger dot, more power3 sites shown

Joliet approved Will County's biggest data center, the Joliet Technology Center, on March 19, 2026, and neighbors are in court trying to undo it. PowerHouse and Hillwood plan 24 buildings on 795 acres, a $20 billion campus designed for 1.8 gigawatts, or 1,800 megawatts of power. A first hearing on the city's and developers' motions to dismiss the lawsuit was scheduled for September 8 before Will County Judge Victoria Breslan; no ruling has been published.

The City Council vote was 8-1; Council member Suzanna Ibarra, who had called for more transparency, voted no. Hillwood says the campus would bring $2.1 billion to schools and other local governments over 30 years and 700 permanent jobs, and city staff say it will use a closed-loop cooling system that recycles water. The lawsuit, filed May 18 by Craig and Rhonda Doorneweerd and Pedro Garcia of unincorporated Elwood, says the campus would draw 100,000 to 150,000 gallons of water a day from an aquifer expected to fall short of peak demand by 2030.

The suit also argues that the public notice for the plan commission meeting never mentioned a data center and that the council vote broke the Open Meetings Act. The city's lawyer answered that voiding a vote taken at an open meeting would be "too extreme a remedy."

Near Braidwood, a data center by Western Hospitality Partners and Found Digital at Interstate 55 and Reed Road, near the Braidwood nuclear plant, is on hold; the city said in January 2026 the project was on hold because of ComEd's internal demands and regulations. Cielo Digital Infrastructure lists a 141-acre, 300-megawatt project in New Lenox, with no site made public. Plainfield has paused data center applications until October 18, 2026, and Mayor John Argoudelis said an extension is "highly likely."

Data center projects on record in Will County

Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.

Braidwood1

Project	Company	Status	Power
Western Hospitality Partners Data CenterBraidwood	Western Hospitality Partners	Suspended	Not reported

Joliet1

Project	Company	Status	Power
PowerHouse JolietJoliet	PowerHouse Data Centers	Approved	1,800 MW

New Lenox1

Project	Company	Status	Power
Cielo Digital Infrastructure New LenoxNew LenoxExact site not confirmed	Cielo Digital Infrastructure	Not reported	300 MW

Where this comes from

The reporting above was written from these. Open one and check it yourself.

Moratoriums and bans in effect

Pauses on new data centers covering this area.

Place	Type	Started	Ends
PlainfieldTown or city	Moratorium	Apr 21, 2026	Oct 18, 2026	Record off site ↗

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.