Decatur residents and green advocates urge Google to cancel Broadwing natural gas deal

Decatur residents and environmental advocates rallied outside Google's Chicago office on Nov. 12, 2026, asking the company to break its power purchase agreement with Broadwing Energy. The deal would back Google data centers with electricity from a natural gas plant and invest in carbon capture and sequestration at an ADM-run injection well near Decatur. Locals cite ADM's past Safe Drinking Water Act violations and worries about Lake Decatur, the city's drinking water source, which was strained by drought in 2025. Google says CCS is part of its 2030 carbon-free energy goal, but critics note the technology has not been successfully deployed by U.S. utilities. Advocates want Google to invest in renewables and storage instead, and they are pushing the Illinois POWER Act to require data centers to report energy and water use. The outcome could set a precedent for how data center growth is powered in Illinois.