Sharp rise in demand: data centres bring power plant in Chicago’s ‘Czech’ district back into play

Demand for electricity in the United States is rising at a pace the energy infrastructure has not been accustomed to for many years. The main driver is data centres powering artificial intelligence systems, whose computing capacity requires a continuous and stable supply of energy. This pressure is now bringing even very old fossil-fuel plants back into operation. One of them is a coal-fired power plant in Chicago dating from 1968. It is located in the working-class district of Pilsen, historically associated with Czech immigration.

An ageing power plant in the heart of a ‘Czech’ district

The industrial site on Cermak Street, on the edge of Dvorak Park, has been important to Chicago’s energy system for more than a century. A coal-fired power plant was built there in 1903, becoming an integral part of the working-class Pilsen district, named after the west Bohemian city. At the time, the surrounding area was home to a sizeable community of immigrants from Bohemia and Moravia, whose legacy remains not only in street names but also in cultural institutions and public spaces.