data centers

Western Kansas has the potential to capitalize on our region’s growing energy demands even as rural populations shrink. There’s plenty of land, wind and sun to be a center for renewable energy production. But skepticism is bringing these projects to a halt.

The Republican Missouri senator introduced bipartisan legislation that would require data centers to build their own power plants and would increase transparency around data center energy use.

The hyperscale data center would go in eastern Independence, near schools and an ammunition plant. A growing number of residents are trying to stop city officials from providing any tax incentives to the company to keep it from being built.

The new plant will be on the site of the retired Rush Island coal plant in Jefferson County. It is being built, in part, to power proposed data centers.

Data centers used to fuel AI are popping up all over the U.S., and they're becoming a midterm issue for voters that's now drawing White House attention. Even Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has pushed for more regulation.

The Unified Government and the BPU are in discussions with three proposed data center projects code-named Project Red Wolf, Project Yardbird and Project Linda. Officials insist the projects won’t increase utility bills for other ratepayers, but similar promises elsewhere have been proven false.

The zoning change is the first regulation on where data centers can be built in the city. Advocates see it as the first step in limiting the AI data center boom.

A data center in the Crossroads is one of the first in the country to get a loan for clean energy. Plus: Scientists across the central U.S. say they have experienced a year of change and uncertainty under the second Trump administration.

A data center in the Crossroads is using the clean energy loan for its chilling equipment. Supporters hope that the loans will encourage the projects to be more environmentally friendly. Critics want the city to do more to regulate the developments.

Last week, Deep Fission broke ground on a pilot program to bury small modular reactors underground in Parsons, Kansas. This project is the first of its kind in the United States, and comes as part of the Trump Administration’s effort to advance the nation’s nuclear power.

After residents in St. Charles protested a secretive data center proposal, developer CRG is eyeing Festus, Missouri, as a site for future sites. It's not clear what tax incentives or exemptions the data centers could receive, would would lessen their economic benefit.

Regulators are trying to protect residential customers from high rates while still attracting large energy users, like data centers, to the state.