Elk Grove & DeKalb cluster

Digital Realty · CyrusOne · Meta · Microsoft · Elk Grove Village / DeKalb, Illinois

Water — consumed, not returned

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 — what the stacks emit

Where it burns

MISO North — Indiana / Illinois

Generation mix

Coal 32 · Gas 28 · Nuclear 17 · Wind 19

CO₂e

1,716 kt/yr — climate, not air quality

Who wanted it

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 running of 1,500 MW announced

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.

Where it is

42.0000°, -88.0000°

Google Maps Satellite See it on the map

Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors. Full method.