Gigawatt Ledger · one-page briefing
Campus profile Operating
Elk Grove & DeKalb cluster
Digital Realty · CyrusOne · Meta · Microsoft · Elk Grove Village / DeKalb, Illinois
The resource footprint
Modelled averageIn one day, this campus consumes about
7.7150-metre swimming pools
Filled with the volume of water consumed by the campus and its electricity supply.
The actual estimate5,089,380 US gallons consumed
Power-plant water may come from a different watershed. This is a volume comparison, not a claim that households lose this water.
At current operating capacity · Annual model spread evenly over time, not a live meter. Site estimates may differ by roughly ±40%.
Comparison sizes & sources
One pool = 50 × 25 × 2 metres = 2.5 million litres (about 660,430 US gallons). Pool depths vary; this is a defined comparison size.
One home-year = 10,791 kWh, the EIA’s 2022 average US residential electricity purchases. This excludes electricity generated at home and is a fixed US benchmark for all sites.
One car-year = 4.6 tonnes CO₂, the EPA’s typical passenger vehicle tailpipe estimate. The campus model is in CO₂e; the comparison expresses approximate climate scale, not equal mixtures of pollutants.
Monthly values are annual totals ÷ 12; daily values are annual totals ÷ 365. Actual demand varies. Comparisons cover the whole campus, including non-AI uses.
Water: see the numbers and sources
This is water used up, mainly through evaporation. Power-generation water may be used in a different watershed.
- Pressure on local water
- Low — a regional measure of demand compared with available water
- Where the water comes from
- Surface water — river, lake or canal
- Cooling
- Evaporative with winter free cooling
- Basis
- Modelled from cooling design — WUE 0.50 L/kWh
Air: see the numbers and sources
The totals include nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and fine particles. They cover both this site and the power plants supplying it.
- Health range
- $63.0–180 million a year. Lower bound is EASIUR national mid-range; upper is EPA benefit-per-ton at a ~$12M VSL.
- Statistical deaths
- 15.0 a year at that VSL — a national-average conversion from tons, not a local concentration study.
- Equals
- 1,174,388 cars of NOx
- Where it burns
- MISO North — Indiana / Illinois
- Generation mix
- Coal 32 · Gas 28 · Nuclear 17 · Wind 19
- Diesel backup
- Diesel backup is not yet counted for this campus, so on-site air figures are a floor.
- CO₂e
- 1,716 kt/yr — climate, not air quality
The project, approvals and community concerns
- Who asked for it
- Financial exchange co-location plus hyperscale leases; Meta operates its own DeKalb campus
- Who approved it
- Municipal approvals across Elk Grove Village and DeKalb; ComEd supply, backed by Illinois nuclear — including Meta's Clinton PPA
- What it serves
- Midwest cloud regions, Chicago financial exchanges, wholesale colocation
- IT capacity
- 600 MW current capacity / 1,500 MW full-build scenario
Chicago's advantage is Lake Michigan water plus a nuclear-heavy grid — a rare combination where neither carbon nor water is the binding constraint. Land and interconnection speed are.
Keep this guide handy
42.0000°, -88.0000°
Quote or share these estimates
Gigawatt Ledger (2026). Elk Grove & DeKalb cluster: water and air. https://gigawatt-ledger.pages.dev/site/chicagowest/. Modelled from disclosed capacity; site-level error ±40%.
Include the estimate’s date, whether it describes current or proposed capacity, and its uncertainty. Get an embeddable card.
Gigawatt Ledger · September 2026. Water and air figures are estimated from public records and disclosed capacity. How we calculate them · Use this in your community.