The purpose of my letter is to provide additional details and concerns about the construction of data centers built in proximity to residential neighborhoods. Our neighborhood in Aurora, Illinois, has experienced significant negative impacts. One particular data center was built adjacent to our neighborhood. This data center is less than 1500 feet from our property in Aurora, Illinois. It's directly in the backyard of one homeowner. (They call themselves ground zero!) When the data centers were first proposed, we were ignorant, trusting, and quite complacent about how they might impact us. We had lived in this neighborhood for over 30 years, and warehouses had surrounded us without much interference.

While I understand the importance of technological infrastructure and economic development, including the future need for data centers, data centers near neighborhoods raise several serious concerns. Some of these concerns relate to our quality of life, living conditions, increases in electricity and water bills, and potential air, soil, and water contamination. We still do not know how data centers will affect our current property values.

Data centers operate continuously and rely on large cooling systems that generate constant noise and low hums/vibrations. In our case, the chillers on the tops of the buildings and the generators create a constant low hum, and the decibels can often exceed acceptable noise levels. Depending upon the direction of the wind, we are frequently awakened throughout the night. Sometimes, we are unable to go back to sleep. At times, we use sound apps to reduce the noise from our bedroom. I have shared these videos with the city, the data center, and a local news channel. For example, I have captured videos that include the sound from our patio, which is adjacent to the data centers. The following dates and times represent some of these recordings: 9/17/25 5:57 am, 9/25/25 6:28 am, 9/30/25 6:28 am, 10/2/25 7:21 am, 10/8/25 2:14 am, 10/11/25 2:02 am, 2/4/26 6:49 am, 3/20/26 3:35 am, 3/22 5:48 am. On 3/26/26, tutoring a student with dyslexia at our kitchen table was extremely difficult. To provide additional evidence regarding the noise that day, we captured a short, 10-15-second reading. This reading was captured using the app, dB Meter. The dB-C scale is a frequency-weighting used in sound level measurements. Unlike dB-A, which reduces sensitivity to low and high frequencies, the dB-C represents a more accurate representation of a broad range of frequencies. It's often used when evaluating peak or maximum sound levels, especially in industrial or environmental noise assessments. The dB-C scale more accurately reports the low hum/vibration that we live through daily in our homes. See below for an example of a reading.