Correcting the Record: Misinformation and Speculation About the Naperville Data Center – Here Are Facts
The proposed redevelopment of 40 acres of vacant land at 1960 Lucent Lane into a best-in-class boutique data center campus presents a unique opportunity to advance Naperville’s economy by securing a significant investment that brings critical digital infrastructure into the community to helps revitalize the tollway corridor, while unlocking substantial economic and fiscal benefits.
As a good corporate citizen with roots and employees who live in the community, Karis has voluntarily proposed a Community Stewardship Pledge to be incorporated into the City of Naperville’s approval of the proposal, which would create binding obligations on the property and guide the campus’ operations for decades to come.
Key Considerations:
- Commitments regarding operations will be a condition of zoning approval as part of the Community Stewardship Pledge, providing municipal oversight and accountability of the campus’ operations.
- Karis is not seeking city approval for the right to construct the Phase Two building at this time and the scale has been reduced to one building.
- The cooling system does not utilize potable water from the City-owned utility.
- All requests of the DuPage Forest Preserve were incorporated into the design and operations of the campus.
- Naperville has established zoning standards for data centers and they are a Conditional Use on properties zoned ORI.
- Naperville residents and ratepayers will not be required to pay or subsidize any necessary upgrades to the city’s utility infrastructure that are directly related to the data center campus.
Water Usage:
To minimize the campus’s use of potable water, the campus will utilize an air-cooled, closed-loop chiller system. This system does not utilize potable water from the City-owned utility. It is expected that the campus will use less water daily than the corporate headquarters that occupied the previously demolished buildings. The only water delivered by the city utility, will be used by the campus for routine uses in office uses, such as restrooms, maintenance, or landscaping.
It is expected that the Phase One building will use 5,000 gallons of water per day. This volume of anticipated daily water usage is less than what was consumed by the former office building on the property. By comparison, a typical residential pool holds between 18,000 and 32,000 gallons of water.
Key consideration: The expected water usage for the building 5,000 gallons a day, is minimal compared to Naperville’s current usage and capacity, which the City’s Water Utility reports is currently between 13.1 and 13.8 million gallons of water per day.
Electric Usage:
Data centers rely on electricity to function. As a large load customer, Karis Critical has been in coordination with the City of Naperville’s Department of Public Utilities. The developer will cover 100% of all associated utility infrastructure costs to accommodate the campus. Naperville residents and ratepayers will not be required to pay or subsidize any necessary upgrades to utility infrastructure.
For various reasons, overall electricity usage in Naperville has declined since 2021. Today, Naperville’s peak electric usage reaches ~350 MW, and its annual electricity consumption is nearly 1,500,000 MWh. The initial phase of the data center will use less than 10% of current peak power demand.
The consistency of electric usage by the data center will help the Department of Public Utilities manage its electrical load and grid. Having larger customers who consistently use electricity is beneficial for long-term planning and rate modeling. The data center will generate considerable utility taxes for Naperville, providing resources that can be reinvested to improve the reliability and resiliency of the City’s electric grid.
Key consideration: The addition of the data center’s operations will support efforts to keep Naperville’s electric rates competitive and affordable, while also supporting investments in reliability, ensuring that families, businesses, and institutions have power when they need it most.
Reliability:
Naperville is among the most reliable electric utilities in Illinois, with reliability ratings that are considerably better than those of ComEd. The property is located adjacent to a substation, and as a result, it has one of the most reliable connections in all of Naperville. The developer has pledged to cover all necessary infrastructure and upgrades cost to increase the resiliency and reliability of this property. This site-specific attribute will significantly reduce the projected need for the backup generation equipment to run.
Like other essential institutions in the community, the onsite backup generation will be maintained and tested monthly. Karis has committed that the generation will exclusively serve as backup power and not as a primary source of electricity. The developer has pledged to use equipment that achieves U.S. EPA Tier 4 Certification, which incorporates the most advanced emission control systems available on the market.
Key consideration: The property has one of the most reliable connections to electricity in all of Naperville, greatly reducing concerns about backup generation consistently running. The developer had pledged to install the highest quality backup generation assets available for purchase and to 100% fund all initiatives to increase the reliability and resilience of the connection to the grid to accommodate the campus.
Impact on Ongoing Negotiations Between Naperville & IMEA:
By state and local law, the City of Naperville has the exclusive and sole authority to acquire electricity, distribute power locally, and maintain the electric grid within its municipal boundaries. Like any potential large user in the community, the data center campus cannot individually negotiate a separate power purchase agreement to acquire electricity from any source other than the City of Naperville.
Karis is aware of the ongoing negotiations between the City and IMEA and supports efforts that provide long-term certainty, balancing the needs of affordability, reliability, and sustainability.
Key consideration: The data center cannot legally enter into an agreement to have power delivered to the site by any entity other than the City of Naperville.