ROCKFORD, IL — Rockford Planning and Development Committee members are backing the creation of a Tax Increment Financing District in an area south of the Rockford airport that includes land San Diego-based Monarch Energy is eyeing for a potential hyperscale data center.
City officials have to agreed to a prohibition on any support generated by the TIF District from directly benefiting a data center after residents raised concerns at public hearings.
Residents who filled the audience and brought signs opposing a data center, worry a data center could drive up electricity costs, consume too much water and potentially harm the environment. They also cited concerns with industrial development near residential, agricultural and forest preserve areas…