KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.
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Data centers are massive buildings that hold all of the information from your phone, computer and any AI platforms. The Kansas City metro has 44 of them, though not all are on a hyperscale level spanning hundreds of acres.
Four hyperscale data centers costing upwards of billions of dollars were announced in Kansas City's Northland over the last three years. Google and Meta's construction is well underway for their data centers, while Project Mica and Kestrel are still in the development process.
Inside, they contain computers, servers and cooling systems that run 24/7.
Over the last year, KSHB 41's Isabella Ledonne has gone in depth on data centers. The series Data, Dollars and Demand has uncovered how Meta's campus in the Northland is expected to use millions of gallons of water a day.
"The more load you have, regardless of the nature of this load, the more burden you impose on infrastructure," Yury Dvorkin, professor of engineering at John Hopkins, said.
It will cost up to $100 billion to build a data center in Platte County near the airport known as Project Kestrel, but the mystery company behind it won't pay any sales tax based on state incentives. Data centers in Missouri also receive property tax abatements as an incentive to develop in the state.
"Why do we have to give away a billion dollars of property tax revenue to get a company here who doesn't generate many jobs?" Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker said.
City leaders have touted economic success and development as a reason for bringing the massive institutions into the state. But opponents have criticized the impact on resources and tax credit incentives.
In the last few weeks, people in the Kansas City metro have been talking about data centers a lot more online. More than 100 people commented on Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas' Facebook post asking for thoughts on data centers.
Commissioner Fricker was one of the many speaking against data center development, particularly in the Northland.
"We cannot continue to have these data centers coming in here, using up all of our scarce resources and not paying taxes," Fricker said in an interview with KSHB 41 News in October.
It's not just on the Missouri side. A resident in Kansas City, Kansas, filed a lawsuit against the Unified Government of Wyandotte County for how leaders went about approving a $12 billion data center a few miles away from the Kansas Speedway.
The project was approved back in May, but no further developments have come out from Wyandotte County since the lawsuit was filed.
KSHB 41 News reached out to Wyandotte County for comment and confirmation the lawsuit delayed the data center development, but did not hear back.
As for Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Lucas announced plans to host a town hall about data centers.
"I've heard positive thoughts about how it is a good economic driver, particularly for jobs and construction for the city," Mayor Lucas said. "I've heard other thoughts that say they are not the sort of things that folks want and are a concern in certain communities."
Some of the comments on Mayor Lucas' post called for development to be delayed, until more information is known about the impact they bring on city resources.
"It doesn't un-ring the bell of what's been approved in the past," Mayor Lucas said. "I think, however, having more public input is always better. I think it helps inform what are future legislative efforts in Kansas City."
No concrete details have been announced about the town hall, but KSHB 41 News will provide an update when those plans are revealed.
More in depth coverage from Data, Dollars and Demand can be found here.
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