YES TO LOGAN COUNTY DATA CENTER
As a proud Logan County resident, I support our county moving forward with the proposed data center project near Latham (“Data center opposition,” Jan. 7). Logan County has always been built on hard work, progress and providing for the next generation. This project brings over 100 long-term local jobs, strong tax revenue for our schools, roads and public services, and a stable investment that helps keep our county moving forward.
Unlike wind farms and solar fields, which take up huge amounts of land and provide very few permanent jobs, this data center offers real, lasting employment opportunities for our community. These jobs will allow people to stay here, raise families and build a future.
We can be proud of protecting our rural values while still welcoming smart growth. Wanting transparency and accountability is fair, but refusing opportunity altogether doesn’t serve Logan County or the people who call it home.
I believe in American innovation, local jobs and investing right here at home. If done responsibly, this project strengthens our county, supports our schools and keeps Logan County strong for generations to come. I’m proud to be from Logan County and proud to support progress.
Adam Charron
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
HUMANITY FIRST
The audience filled the seats at the Logan County courthouse on the evening of Jan. 5. The evening began with Hut 8 presenters citing their own small town roots and how ownership of a smartphone, online photos and use of YouTube should compel a green light of their project. At one point, they even said data has been a gift to farmers.
When confronted with concerns about escalating utility rates due to data center growth and energy demand that exceeds supply, their response was that it was a good thing because it would trigger more bedrock energy production. Meaning more coal plants? Logan County has a large area of farmland buried under toxic coal waste, as one audience member noted, citing the rich farmland lost to Viper.
The Hut 8 group also promised hundreds of permanent IT jobs. One audience member was skeptical, asking just how many techs are they going to find in Logan County?
The audience repeatedly challenged the credibility of the company, citing inaccurate numbers on how close the center would come to residences, security fraud investigation on the company and a failed site in Niagara Falls. The company pitch vacillated between promises of millions of dollars of revenue, vague offers of supporting the local economy and growth and high walls to protect residents from the noise and lights generated by the center. They could not answer how many generators would be onsite or whether they would be natural gas or diesel. In fact, they could not answer many questions put before them by the audience.
Kelly Cudderly, a veteran in the IT business from Logan County, stated that past data centers were small-scale and easily housed, having little impact, whereas these large-scale data centers are no more than a tech billionaire’s project flop. She suggested if the county went ahead with the center, they should stipulate 1% of the center’s earnings go to the community.
Is Hut 8 connected to Meta? The presenters said no connection existed, but they failed to acknowledge the Hut 8 connection to Blackrock, a major global investor. Blackrock also has 8% holdings in Ameren, which will be funneling the energy for this project.
It is essential to note that there is a serious conflict of interest growing among data centers, fossil fuel investors and utility ownership. It could lead to utility customers forced to pay higher rates and nowhere to turn, with the same corporations having ownership of the data center, energy production, new media and their utility.
Time has run out to roll back carbon emissions caused by high energy consumption. Mass proliferation of hyperscale data centers will fast track climate emergency. And as one of the audience members said, “AI must not be placed above humanity.”
Anne Logue
Springfield
This article appears in January 22 – 26, 2026.
