Data Center Registry
Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle)
Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois
Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) is a cancelled data center in Rochelle, Illinois (Ogle County), operated by Midwest Power Investors LLC (LFF Industrial). The public record puts it at 150 MW planned. It faces documented, organized local opposition.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
Facility record
Cancelled
- Operator
- Midwest Power Investors LLC (LFF Industrial)
- Facility type
- Data center
- Location
- Steward Drive, Rochelle, Ogle County, IL
- Coordinates
- 41.8979, -89.0482 (approximate)
- Power capacity
- 150 MW planned
- Land
- Not established from a public source
- Investment
- Not established from a public source
- Announced
- Not established from a public source
- Utility
- Not established from a public source
- Cooling
- Not established from a public source
- Water use
- Not established from a public source
- Jobs
- Not established from a public source
- Public subsidy
- Not established from a public source
- Community reception
- Opposed
- Source confidence
- Reported by at least one credible outlet or filing
Timeline from the record
Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.
- September 12, 2026CancelledRochelle City Council rejected the development agreement 0-7 on 27 April 2026 after tabling it in March. Source: Rockford News First
Opposition and litigation at this site
Yes. Organized local opposition to Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) in Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois is documented in the public record, without a lawsuit on file in the sources we track. Residents raised concerns about environmental impact and utility bills during a roughly two-year review; the mayor asked the council to vote the development agreement down.
How the community has taken it
Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: opposed means documented, organized local opposition is the dominant signal on record.
Residents raised concerns about environmental impact and utility bills during a roughly two-year review; the mayor asked the council to vote the development agreement down.
Notes on the record
Proposed along Steward Drive in Rochelle, which operates its own municipal electric utility. The initial phase would have required at least 48 MW, with later phases expanding to about 150 MW; the recorded planned capacity is the full-build figure. The mayor cited projected Illinois capacity shortfalls from 2029.
What the record does not establish, and the document that would
In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.
- Cooling method and water use
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- Permanent jobs promised
- Land area
- Which utility serves it
Which document closes each gap
- Cooling method and water use
- The water service agreement, any groundwater appropriation permit, and the mechanical narrative in the site plan.
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
- Permanent jobs promised
- The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.
- Land area
- The rezoning application, the plat, or the deed recorded with the county.
- Which utility serves it
- The electric service agreement or the utility's filing with the state public utility commission.
Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.
Other sites within 30 miles
Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.
- Meta DeKalb Data Center · DeKalb · Meta13 mi · Operating · Supported
- Rock Air Data Center Campus · Rockford · Monarch Energy18 mi · Proposed · 1.4 GW
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) in Rochelle?
Yes. Organized local opposition to Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) in Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois is documented in the public record, without a lawsuit on file in the sources we track. Residents raised concerns about environmental impact and utility bills during a roughly two-year review; the mayor asked the council to vote the development agreement down.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle)?
No lawsuit over Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) appears in the record we track as of September 12, 2026. Residents most often reach a lawyer over water supply, well drawdown, noise from cooling plant, property value, or a rezoning approved without the notice the ordinance required. If any of that is happening near this site, it is worth a review whether or not a case has been filed yet.
How much water does Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) use?
No water withdrawal figure for Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle) is on record here. Water use is rarely published voluntarily; it usually surfaces through a utility service agreement or a state withdrawal permit, both of which are public records. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.
Who operates Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle), and how big is it?
Midwest Power Investors LLC (LFF Industrial) is the operator on record. Capacity on record is 150 MW.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Steward Drive Data Center (Rochelle)," updated September 12, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/midwest-power-investors-rochelle-il.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/midwest-power-investors-rochelle-il, retrieved September 14, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Rochelle City Council unanimously rejects data center proposal · Rockford News First · retrieved September 12, 2026
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