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November 17 Protest: No data centers in Rockford!

The City of Rockford has scheduled a time for public comments on the draft data center regulations: November 17, 2026.

We think that a strong show of public opposition is our strongest tool right now to stop all data centers (including the Monarch Energy data center), and we are calling for a protest on November 17 to tell the City: NO DATA CENTERS.

Please invite everyone you know. Please share the below graphics on social media, print and distribute them to local businesses, and give them to your neighbors.

Send a public comment via email before the meeting 

• Send a public comment to your city council member, and to the public comment email address with your feedback on the draft regulations: publiccomment@rockfordil.gov. For the public comment email address, use the subject line “For ZBA re: data center regulations.”

• Sign-ups have not been opened for speaking at the Zoning meeting. Once they open, we will notify our email list (sign up below to join).

• When you contact your city council member, ask to meet with them 1:1 to discuss your thoughts on the data center draft regulations and data centers in general. Click here to find your city council member.
  

What to say
Please feel free to personalize your feedback on the proposed data center regulations to make it aligned with your experience, values, and thoughts. Our suggested outline: 

1. NOT ACTUALLY PROTECTIVE: The regulations as drafted are inadequate to actually protect Rockford.

2. NEED ACTUAL EXPERT AND PUBLIC INPUT: The regulations were drafted without input from environmental experts, nearby homeowners, the Winnebago County Forest Preserves, and the public. This document must not be rushed through without expert input and public feedback.

3. NOT ENFORCEABLE: The draft regulations include no way for the City to actually enforce these guidelines, making them useless for protecting Rockford. Data center developers around the country are regularly ignoring guidelines (examples from Texas; Tennessee; New Jersey). Any guidelines must contain real enforcement mechanisms.

4. NOT PROTECTING WORKER SAFETY: The regulations as drafted contain no protections for workers during the construction phase.

5. NOT ADEQUATE FOR A HYPERSCALE DATA CENTER: The regulations as drafted say they are only for "data centers", which are different from the 1300-acre hyperscale data center that Monarch says will be "one of the largest int he country."

6. NO PROTECTION FOR OUR ENERGY BILLS: The draft regulations have no protections against the skyrocketing electricity and water costs that residents experience when a data center moves in. Data centers must pay their own way.

Attend a city council meeting

Rockford:

• Find information about city council meeting schedules and sign up to speak here:
  
  Rockford City Council Public Participation
  

• Find your alderman (the person who represents you on City Council)
  
  Find your alderman

Bevidere:

• Find information about the city council meeting schedule: Belvidere city council meetings