Members of a community organization named “Resist AI Data Centers Champaign County” disclosed the names of the “mysterious” data centers that approached the county for potential data center development, including a 300-acre facility.
Kimberlie Kranich, a steering member of the organization, said the two companies are named ABEI Energy and Clean Cloud Energy during her speech at the organization’s third meeting at Champaign Public Library on Aug. 25.
Even though the board members declined to share the exact location of these potential data centers, the emails mention sites north of Tolono and one in the Rising Road area west of Champaign. Yet no one on the county board or data center task force was willing to share any details on location or companies proposing the centers when asked by the public.
The organization is making active efforts to access information that had not been made public by the county.
Kranich, who is also an independent journalist, said she obtained the names of the data centers through email response from Michelle Jett on Aug. 13, director of administration for the county executive’s office in Champaign County. Jett was elected as the new county executive earlier this year and will take office in December.
Michelle Jett, director of administration for the county executive, shared the names of two data center companies with community resident Kimberlie Kranich on Aug. 13, 2026. Email courtesy of Kimberlie Kranich.
Kranich said she previously filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the county asking for the names — which was denied.
Indeed, county employee emails obtained by CU-CitizenAccess.org from October through December 2025 showed several county employees and board members were contacted by these data centers and scheduled meetings.
John Hall, director of planning and zoning at Champaign County and member of the task force; Aaron Esry, a board member who represents District 3 for Champaign County and vice chair of the task force; and Carly McCrory-McKay, executive director at Champaign County Economic Development Corporation and a member of the task force, were contacted nearly one year ago by Clean Cloud Energy.
In an earlier interview with CU-CitizenAccess, Hall noted he had not signed any non-disclosure agreements.
Hall and Esry have said in interviews they could not disclose the names of the companies because they had not received “formal” proposals or applications.
Clean Cloud Energy is an energy and digital infrastructure developer based in Austin, Texas. It is focused on developing energy campuses for hyperscale AI data centers. The company is also pursuing a proposed data center and solar energy development in Grant County, Ark.
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, ABEI Energy is an independent power producer and infrastructure developer. It develops renewable energy projects and also has a data center business called ABEI Digital, which develops data center infrastructure.
During a recent presentation about a proposed data center in Franklin County, Ind., an ABEI data center manager said the company was developing 11 projects across Indiana, Illinois and Ohio and specifically identified Champaign and Bloomington, Ill., as developing sites.
County officials seeking ways to regulate data center development
In early February 2026, a one-year moratorium on the development of data centers with 10,000 square feet or more of processing area was proposed in Champaign County, so appropriate zoning regulations can be developed for larger projects like the one proposed.
Following the moratorium, a county task force was formed to discuss potential impacts of a large data center. Since its formation, the task force has had seven consecutive meetings so far, where they have tried to build an ordinance after conversations.
Ruth Yontz, a county resident and former employee at the University of Illinois, said the lack of awareness in the community prompted her and cofounder Antonia Herbstreit to start the grassroots organization known as “Resist AI Data Centers Champaign County.”
“My neighbors and my friends, they [didn’t] know what’s happening at the local level or the state level, and sometimes not at the federal level, either,” Yontz said in an interview with CU-CitizenAccess. “So we decided to have a teach-in. The date of our first teach-in was July 24.”
She said the group wanted to share information about what was happening at the local and state levels and share updates on the Illinois POWER Act and the federal Speed Act.
The group meets regularly to discuss outreach efforts, identify concerns to raise with county officials and continue bringing information about the proposed data center developments to the public.
The next meeting date is Sept. 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m at the Champaign Public Library.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated for clarity and to correct the formal name of the community organization “Resist AI Data Centers Champaign County.”