‘White noise on steroids’: Aurora City Council passes noise restrictions on data centers as residents clamor for change

AURORA, Ill. (WGN) — The data center debate is sweeping through Chicagoland. Last week, the City of Joliet passed legislation to build the largest data center in the State of Illinois. On Tuesday, the City of Aurora voted on regulations governing new data centers within the municipality.

As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, the Aurora City Council (ACC) voted to amend an ordinance governing decibel level maximums emitted from data centers during daytime and nighttime hours. Under the amendment, decibel levels during the day would be capped at 56, while decibel levels at night would have a maximum of 46.

The decibel restrictions were among a number of solutions considered by the ACC on Tuesday night after Aurora residents voiced the need for tighter restrictions on data centers within city limits.

According to a presentation detailing proposed data center ordinances, Aurora residents have expressed concerns over increased data center requests, noise, water, energy use, pollution, and there being no current requirements or a public engagement process when it comes to how data center sites are selected and built upon.

Proposed ordinances to address those concerns include a coordinated framework for siting, construction, operation and oversight for data centers that the city said are designed for “transparency, accountability and legal defensibility.” Four additional ordinances also offer amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance, building code and the code of ordinances.

According to city officials, the implementation of those five items would put clear day and nighttime noise limits in place, commission a water study, create on-site renewable energy or battery storage, improve engine emission standards, require compliance with strict biometric data privacy safeguards, and require City Council to approve and issue public notice of any new data centers.

As a part of the city’s information-gathering process, they also published a public survey to gauge community interest in data center regulation. One respondent to the survey said, “My ComEd bill in Aug ’25 (for 2 people in a townhouse) went from ~$125/month (summer) to $750/month in Sept ’25. From 1 month to another! Outrageous! ComEd told me to get used to $300/month bills. As would be basically my new normal.”

Mary Castro lives behind “Cyrus One,” a massive data center on Diehl Road. In the 20 years since her home was built, she said her family has seen the wooded area behind their house go from a peaceful, quiet forest teeming with wildlife to an industrial development that produces unending noise.

“We loved it because it was quiet,” Castro said. “It was all trees … and it had a pond in the backyard. We loved the fact that we had deer and wildlife that would stroll through our yard all the time.”

Castro told WGN-TV the giant data center isn’t just an eyesore, but the noise that comes from the buildings has residents on edge, with some describing it as “white noise on steroids.”

“It doesn’t stop,” Castro said. “It’s 24-seven. They don’t take a day off. They don’t take 10 minutes off.”

Back in February, another Aurora resident, Richard Kersch, told WGN-TV, “We have constant noise, vibrations. My wife can’t sleep at night.”

The noise Castro and Kersch describe is coming from dozens of chillers used to cool the computer servers inside the data center. At times, the facility is also powered on generators, which create an even louder cacophony of noise.

One such instance happened recently when a transformer broke.

“The sound was intolerable,” Castro said. “It went on for 3-4 days uninterrupted, very loud. You couldn’t have a conversation inside your house. It was so loud, my house literally vibrated like a tuning fork would go, that’s what my house was doing.”

Cyrus One shared a statement with WGN-TV after the company was asked for comment on this story.

“Permanent sound walls and generator enclosures have been completed, and additional attenuation work for the rooftop chillers is currently underway … CyrusOne remains committed to working closely with the City and our neighbors to continuously enhance our facilities.” – Cyrus One Spokesperson

There are currently four data centers in Aurora, with several others planned in the future. The city had issued a six-month temporary moratorium on data center development in Aurora, but that expired Tuesday.

Stay with WGN-TV as this article will be updated after the Aurora City Council meeting concludes Tuesday night.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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