They saw YOU coming…
May 7, 2006
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–This is an astonishing story a friend mentioned to me:
He has family with a farm near Morris, Illinois. The Dresden nuclear power plant is in this area, about 62 miles southwest of Chicago, near the DesPlaines river. Units 2 & 3 of the Dresden power plant are over 50 years old, and according to Google, generate 1800 MW powering approximately 2 million homes.
Farmland in the area goes for about $13000 per acre.
Here’s the amazing part (Google AI):
Based on January 2026 reports, Denver-based developer Tract acquired 343 acres of land near Morris, IL—located in Grundy County near the Dresden power plant—for approximately $51.5 million. [1]
- Price Per Acre: The transaction breaks down to roughly $150,000 per acre ($51.5M / 343 acres), which is higher than the $135,000 mentioned in your query but aligns with the surge in local prices for prime, high-power-access land.
So, this data center builder paid over 10 TIMES to get a contiguous parcel of land. Supposedly, the data center will require something like 75% of Dresden’s output (and they are planning other data centers in the same area!!). So, $50 million is a drop in the bucket compared to CAPEX spend plans, but still…
So, residents may be crowded out by high and reduced electricity availability, but of course additional power generation facilities will be forthcoming, right? Again, according to Google: The company [GE Vernova] has a $100 GW gas turbine backlog expected to sell out through 2028-2030, with over 55% of the total backlog in long-term services.
No turbines, no additional power….
From Robert Bryce:
Over the past seven months, it’s become apparent that people all across the US are pissed off. They don’t like the super-rich tech oligarchs, they don’t trust Big Tech, and they are ready and willing to fight to stop AI data centers from coming into their cities, towns, and rural areas.
Broad coalitions of people from Indianapolis to Independence, Missouri, have organized to stop data center projects, and, as I noted a few weeks ago in “AI Rejected: Tracing The Great Data Center Revolt,” there have already been more than 70 rejections or restrictions in the first four months of 2026. That’s more than occurred in all of 2025. And remember, the rejection numbers for 2026 don’t include projects canceled or withdrawn due to local opposition. For instance, last month, Compass Datacenters withdrew plans for an 800-acre project in Prince William County, Virginia, after facing “intense pushback from local residents.”
https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/rage-against-the-data-center
