Plain-language basics

How These Technologies Work

Before weighing any project, it helps to understand what these things actually are. This page explains — in plain language — how data centers and battery storage work, what they look like, and how they're cooled and powered. For concerns and the City's responses, see Concerns & Responses.

Data centers

What actually happens inside

A data center is, at heart, a building full of computers. Inside are rows of racks holding servers — the machines that store data and run the websites, apps, business software, and cloud services we all use — plus the networking gear and storage that tie them together.

It mostly runs itself. The work is electronic — data flowing in and out over fiber-optic lines — so day to day it's highly automated and monitored remotely, with only a small on-site crew for security and swapping out failed parts.
It's built never to go down. That's why it has redundant power and cooling and tight physical security — reliability is the whole product.
It's not a factory. Nothing is manufactured, processed, or shipped out — no assembly lines, smokestacks, or fleets of trucks. The "output" is data over a wire, which is why day-to-day traffic is so low.

What they look like. Below is one concept for how a facility here could fit our community, alongside photos of existing data centers in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The draft ordinance's architectural standards (Section 12) would require quality materials and discourage a plain, warehouse-style appearance here.

Concept rendering for 'Linn Valley Technology Park' with an Old-West-styled timber-and-stone entry gate, monument sign, and security building, native landscaping and screening, with a modern data center behind. — **Illustrative concept (AI-generated) — not a proposed design.** One idea for how a facility here could blend modern technology with Linn Valley's character — an Old-West-styled entry, natural materials, native landscaping, and screening — the kind of quality the draft ordinance's architectural standards (Section 12) are meant to encourage.

A modern, glass-fronted data center building in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, with landscaping and a worker walking outside. — **Example: an existing data center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois** — a modern, glass-fronted building, not a windowless industrial box. Photo: City of Linn Valley.

Data center buildings in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, showing the modern building style and overall scale. — **Example: data centers in Elk Grove Village, Illinois** — showing the modern building style and scale. Photo: City of Linn Valley.

A data center building in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, with a single service truck, illustrating low day-to-day traffic. — **Example: a data center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois** — a large building with very little day-to-day traffic (note the lone service vehicle). Photo: City of Linn Valley.

How data centers are cooled — and what the City would allow

Cooling is the single biggest factor in how much water a data center uses, and the options differ enormously:

Air-cooled — uses essentially no water (it uses more electricity instead).
Closed-loop / liquid cooling (including newer chip-level systems) — filled once and recirculated, using little ongoing water.
Hybrid / "adiabatic" — mostly air-cooled, with light evaporative assist only on the hottest days.
Evaporative cooling towers — the most water-intensive option, which also requires chemical treatment and permitted wastewater discharge.
Immersion — servers submerged in a non-water dielectric fluid; no cooling-water discharge.

The City's intent is clear: favor low-water designs (closed-loop and air-cooled), and most likely not permit water-intensive evaporative cooling. The proposed Section 13A — Water Resource Protection would require an applicant to disclose its cooling technology, and a project may not materially impact the community's water. For the water-quality risk of each option, see Water Quality.

How data centers are powered — and how that power is managed

A data center is a large, steady electricity user, so how it connects to and works with the grid matters as much as how much it uses:

It connects to the electric grid. A large user ties in through the utility's interconnection process, usually at or near an existing substation or transmission line — which is exactly why proximity to that infrastructure is what puts a community on a developer's radar in the first place.
Backup is for reliability, not everyday power. Facilities keep on-site backup — battery units for instant ride-through and generators for longer outages — but the City would require a project to run on the grid, with generators limited to backup and testing (see Section 13B).
Efficiency is measured — and improving. "Power Usage Effectiveness" (PUE) tracks how much overhead a facility adds on top of the computing itself, and modern facilities are far more efficient than a decade ago (more in Growth & Efficiency).
Power can be actively managed. On-site batteries can store energy and release it at peak demand, and large users coordinate with the utility — which can actually help grid stability rather than only draw from it (see The Power Grid and battery storage, below).

What this means locally: a project connects through the utility, the developer — not residents — funds the infrastructure its load requires, retail rates are set by the Kansas Corporation Commission (not the City), and the City would confirm the provider can serve a project without degrading residential service.

Battery energy storage (BESS)

What it is and how it works

A battery energy storage system (BESS) does one simple job: it stores electricity and releases it later. It's built from banks of batteries (usually lithium-ion) in weatherproof cabinets or containers, plus power-conversion equipment that moves energy between the grid's alternating current and the batteries.

Charge low, discharge high. It charges when electricity is abundant — midday solar, or overnight when demand is low — and discharges during peak demand, helping balance supply and improve reliability (more on the grid).
It sits next to the grid. Because its job is to support the grid, it's typically located beside an existing substation.
Small and quiet. A small (~1-acre) facility is a handful of enclosures behind a fence — unstaffed, low-noise, and monitored 24/7.
It doesn't generate power. Unlike a power plant, it makes no electricity of its own — it only stores and returns what's already on the grid.

What one could look like. Below is an illustrative concept for a small (about one-acre) battery facility designed to fit our community.

Concept rendering of a roughly one-acre 'Linn Valley Energy Storage' battery facility: equipment screened behind an 8-foot wooden privacy fence with stone accents, native landscaping, dark-sky lantern lighting, and a Western-style operations building. — **Illustrative concept (AI-generated) — not a proposed design.** One idea for a small (about one-acre) battery storage facility — the equipment screened behind a wooden privacy fence with native landscaping and dark-sky-compliant lighting. The draft ordinance's BESS safety requirements (Section 14) and dark-sky lighting standards (Section 11) would apply. (We don't yet have photos of an operating facility.)

On the questions people ask most about batteries — fire safety and emergency response — see Battery Fire Safety.