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Logan County Board
Logan County community comments on proposed data center
[January 09, 2026]
On Monday, January 5th, the
Zoning and Economic Development Committee of the larger Logan County
Board held their monthly meeting. These meetings are usually held in
the Blue Room of the Logan County Safety Complex. Instead of that
location, the committee met in the third floor courtroom of the
Logan County Courthouse. This room, which has well over 100 seats,
was filled to the brim with community members wishing to comment on
the proposed data center near Latham. Hut 8, the company that would
be building the proposed data center, had two representatives on
hand to answer questions. These representatives were Peter Goehausen,
Director of Energy Origination, and Greg Erwin, Senior Vice
President of Energy Origination.
A presentation on the data center was given first, followed by
questions from the committee and other board members present. To
read more about this proposed data center, and data centers in
general, please read LDN’s article published earlier this week
here. To read a general overview of the presentation and the
questions asked by the board, please read this LDN article
here.
A 10-minute recess was taken following the presentation and board
questions. Once the recess was over, community members were welcome
to come forward and ask questions or make comments. Some of the
questions were neutral, but no one got up to say anything positive
about the data center. The comments and questions showed that,
especially among the Latham community, the proposed data center is
largely unpopular.
The first question came from a
medical provider, who wanted assurance that there would not be
brownouts that would impact people with medical devices requiring
electricity. They also wanted to know what would be put in the water
that is being used as coolant. Gohausen and Irwin stated that Ameren
would shut down the data center before having power cut off for the
community. They also stated that it would be too early to tell what
solution mix would go into their cooling water, but that the renter
would have the obligation to take that material out and dispose of
it.
The next commenter voiced concerns about how much farmland is being
used. She talked about the fertility of the soil in Central Illinois
and Logan County, also mentioning that much of this land is having
projects like windmills placed over them.
The next person asking a question wanted to know about high usage
times. Ameren has a program called Peak Time Rewards where they
communicate high usage times to their customers and reward them for
lowering their usage. This person was concerned that with a data
center consuming high volumes of electricity, most times would be
considered a ‘peak time.’ Goehausen stated that power demand trends
have been flat from about the year 2000 to just a few years ago.
This means that there has not been a lot of need for new power
generation. He further stated that companies now have incentives to
build new power plants and bring more power to the market, which
could lower power cost.
Another person read a quote from the Illinois Times, stating that
residential costs could rise as a result of a data center being
built. Goehausen and Irwin assured him that this should not be the
case as they are paying for one hundred percent of the costs for
infrastructure upgrades, which is the biggest contributor to rising
electricity costs near data centers. This is something discussed in
more detail in the first of the two articles linked above.
Another citizen stated they did not want this data center at all.
They want to be calm and have a safe space for their family, and
cannot have that with the data center 2 miles from their home. They
did not want Hut 8 to “destroy their peace,” a statement that was
met with loud applause from the room. They also stated that they
have run out of water in the past and that they’re well runs on
power to get that water out of the ground. Brownouts and additional
daily usage of water by the facility could disrupt that. They felt
this was being talked about as if it were a “done deal” and they did
not like that.
The next person to speak also had a comment relating to a class
action lawsuit that was filed against Hut 8. This lawsuit, in short,
stated that the company failed to disclose certain problems with a
merger with the company IS Bitcoin Corp to its investors. This
person expressed doubt that if the company was not fully transparent
with their investors, they would be fully transparent with the
denizens of Logan County.
The next woman to speak asked about
the number of backup generators and was told in Louisiana the number
would be between ten and fifty. According to her research, it could
be in hundreds like in Sangamon County. She then stated that low
frequency, humming noises, while unlikely to be heard, could be
felt. These low frequency noises (LFN) have been linked to things
like anxiety. Noise has been used as a method of torture for
centuries. “This would be like torture to the people of Latham,” she
said.
According to Psychology Today, these LFN’s can be linked to anxiety.
While speaking specifically on flying and low frequency noises
associated with it, author Tom Bunn states that our brains
“automatically react and release stress hormones” in the presence of
LFN’s.
The next commenter, a former biology teacher, talked on how many
data centers Hut 8 has that are operational. According to his own
research, Hut 8 only has three operational data center facilities.
He mentioned that he could not find how many “non-skilled workers”
these facilities employed. Irwin stated that they do have a data
center that is not operational in Niagara Falls, New York. Irwin
stated the reason for this was due to the energy costs in the area,
saying they are too high to make operating the data center
“economical.” He continued, saying that they do have more than three
operational data centers, but that some are on a smaller scale. They
could look into the number of “non-skilled workers” and get that
number to the man who asked about them.
[to top of second column] |
The next person to
speak, one of the younger people to comment, brought up some
concerns that she had about data centers. According to her
research, there are some communities that had shortages in
water, with some homes not having any water, after a data center
was built nearby. She stated that this is not something that she
wants to see happen in her community. Since Hut 8 is a
multi-billion dollar company, people have no way to hold them
accountable to anything they say. Irwin responded that he would
be willing to commit that the center would have a closed loop
water cooling system that night, which would have a
significantly lower impact on local water sources.
The next woman to speak stated that
she has experience in IT, including leadership roles. She called the
data center “nothing more than tech billionaire investment.”
Companies need to understand the brand of their tech, and mentioned
companies such as Blackrock and Meta. Irwin informed her that Hut 8
has no affiliation with or any current contract with Meta. The woman
continued, that she would like to see a one percent fee on the
earnings of the data center that would go toward projects in the
community. Irwin responded that he has been having conversations to
figure out how Hut 8 could best give back to the community and has
been talking about things such as the woman’s suggestion.
Next, a woman wanted to know how the people of Latham and Logan
County could be sure that Hut 8 would choose a renter for the data
center that would be best for the community. She was concerned with
things such as bitcoin mining, as well as what would happen to the
land under the data center should Hut 8 go out of business. Irwin
and Goehausen stated that Hut 8 no longer works with bitcoin miners
and was willing to put it into a contract that the renter of the
facility would not be a bitcoin miner. They also mentioned that, as
a part of any contract Hut 8 might make with the county, they would
have a decommissioning plan with funds to cover the cost of tearing
down the facility in the event Hut 8 went out of business.
The next man to speak asked the board members to make the most moral
decision that they could on the data center when eventually voting
for it. He brought up the fact that much personal data is stored in
data centers, also stating that companies make money from selling
this personal data.
The next speaker was a representative of the Latham Park District.
He mentioned that Latham Fire Protection is all volunteer, and the
nearest paid firefighters are between 18 and 20 miles away. He
wanted to know about hazards that the data center could run into,
and if they would be prepared in the case of a fire. Goehausen
stated that the fire risk at a data center is no higher than at any
other industrial building, and that they would work with local first
responders to make sure they were prepared in the case of an
emergency.
After this, the next speaker wanted to
know about several things, starting with tax benefits. She stated
that the tax benefits would go to Mt Pulaski, and that Latham would
not receive any of this increased revenue. She wanted to know about
assurances to mine subsidence. Irwin stated that things like that
are addressed in contracts that Hut 8 would make with any tenant of
their facility.
The next speaker voiced concern about the types of businesses that a
data center would attract to Logan County. He did not see it
attracting things like mechanic shops or restaurants. Goehausen
responded that, as jobs are brought into the area, more businesses
like restaurants would be needed. This answer did not sit well with
the audience, with several loudly asking “in Latham?” several times
from their seats.
A woman then asked about the pollutants that would be added to the
water, asking if it would be glycol and what would happen to the
waste water after five to seven years. Irwin stated that it would
indeed be glycol, and that the tenant of the data center would be
responsible for the long-term disposal of the waste water.
Tax appeals were the topic of the next question, with someone asking
what would keep a company from filing a tax appeal to lower their
taxes after they got set up. Irwin stated that it would be great for
Hut 8 to attract a company that everyone could agree to. If they
could attract a triple A company to the data center, it may benefit
the county more to try to incentivize them with lower taxes. A
company with higher credit would be less likely to leave or go out
of business, leaving the data center without a tenant. Irwin did
state that this would need to be a decision that Hut 8 and local
representatives would make together.
The last major comment was about the currently not-in-use data
center in Niagara Falls. The person wanted to know if Hut 8 was
planning on just leaving it there. Irwin stated that they would, and
his answer was once again an unpopular one, with several jeers being
made from members of the audience. She wanted to know if they would
decommission it at some point. Irwin stated that they are trying to
work on making it economical, but that it would be decommissioned
according to that center’s decommissioning plan, not left
permanently.
The last couple of comments were questions about whether Goehausen
or Irwin live near data centers, as well as what the data center
would be able to provide the people of Latham. By the end of the
questions, the audience began to chant “vote no” loudly and in
unison.
[Matt Boutcher]
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