De Soto neighbors bring questions for second data center proposal near Panasonic Plant

KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. She's been covering data centers extensively on both sides of the state line. Share your story idea with Isabella.

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De Soto, Kansas, could see another data center popping up near the former Sunflower Ammunition Plant and Panasonic Power Plant. That would potentially bring three large energy format users within the same area, with Beale Infrastructure's data center moving forward.

Neighbors are asking data center developers difficult questions about the utility usage and approval process, and demanding transparency.

"There's a brokenness in the process," Sara VanDeCreek said. "There's a brokenness not only in De Soto, but I think in many areas."

VanDeCreek is one of the De Soto residents who attended Thursday night's community outreach session with Digital Realty. She has been engaged with both Beale Infrastructure and Digital Realty's data center proposals.

Fabian Rosales/KSHB 41

"Am I happy that there's another data center? Not exactly," VanDeCreek said. "But of the two projects, I would say Digital Realty is probably a little bit better — they have been more forthcoming."

Digital Realty didn't state who the data center's specific customer would be, though some of their clients include Meta, Microsoft Azure, LinkedIn, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

The data center company is planning its 3-million-square-foot data center across nine buildings and 300 acres to have a flexible design for the changes in technology.

Fabian Rosales/KSHB 41

"We're kind of customer agnostic," Director of Public Affairs Matt Gully said. "This project is being developed to address the needs of the growing technology sector."

The project, titled Astra Enterprise, claims it will pay for a new industrial wastewater plant to be built and designed by the city of De Soto. It is authorized to use up to one million gallons of water a day.

While it will be on Evergy's energy grid along with the Panasonic plant and another potential data center, it is not expected to raise rates.

"That's why we signed a long-term power agreement with Evergy, because they have the power there," Gully said.

Even though neighbors at Thursday's meeting said Digital Realty has been more transparent than other Kansas data centers, they are still skeptical of the project's impact having already seen a taste from the Panasonic Plant.

Fabian Rosales/KSHB 41

"We've never had traffic, now we have traffic," neighbor Toni Caldwell said. "We've already seen a depreciation in home values that are surrounding that area."

Digital Realty officially submitted a site plan for the data center, which is set to be reviewed by the Planning Commission in August — it is currently under review by city staff.

The company has also submitted an economic incentive application for the TIF district that is already in place at Astra Enterprise Park, but project leaders claim they are not seeking any other incentives at this time.

Gully stated the company has not asked any city leadership to sign NDA's regarding the project.

In December 2025, the city of De Soto submitted a letter of interest to learn more about a nuclear power plant to supply energy for demand needs. A city spokesperson told KSHB 41 News that De Soto is not actively developing or pursuing a nuclear power plant project at this time.

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