Expected to be ready for service in 2027
Commonwealth Edison, Illinois' largest electrical utility, has broken ground on a new substation, which is set to serve a Stream Data Centers facility in Elk Grove Village, located just outside Chicago, Illinois.
Engineering and design work on the substation began in 2023. The substation will support 260MW of load and is expected to be ready for service in 2027.
"ComEd is proud to work with Stream to deliver the reliable electrical infrastructure needed to support their continued growth and investment in the region," said Neena Hemmady, vice president of projects and contracts for ComEd. "With best-in-class reliability, the ComEd grid will continue to play a pivotal role in achieving economic development goals for both the region and the state by providing the infrastructure to create more jobs and investments in our northern Illinois communities."
The substation will serve Stream’s third data center campus in Elk Grove. Stream currently owns two data centers in the Elk Grove area of Chicago. Chicago I, is a 126,689 sq ft (11,769 sqm) data center offering 15MW, which Stream acquired in December 2017. Chicago II offers 32MW across 226,000 sq ft (20,996 sqm). Both existing facilities are located around a mile south of the new proposed development.
The latest data center will span 1.2 million sq ft (111,483 sqm) across three buildings, with its first building expected to deliver 40MW of IT load. Dubbed ORDC, Stream claims the campus will offer configurable, high-efficiency hybrid cooling solutions, access to renewable energy options, and ample connectivity and security.
"Northern Illinois offers the geographic and power advantages needed to meet our customers' demanding requirements," said Michael Lahoud, co-managing partner at Stream Data Centers. "With ComEd and other local partners, we're proud to launch our third Chicago-area campus and deliver world-class hyperscale data centers that benefit customers and the community."
Stream was granted zoning approval for the project back in 2023, with full build-out expected to take up to ten years.
The project adds to Elk Grove’s large data center market. The Chicago suburb is home to data centers operated by prominent companies such as Prime, T5, EdgeConneX, Skybox, CloudHQ, Microsoft, Stream, and Digital Realty.
ComEd is a portfolio company of Exelon Corporation, one of the largest utility companies in the US. ComEd serves more than four million customers across northern Illinois, representing 70 percent of its population.
Source: DCD
