KSHB 41 News anchor Taylor Hemness reports on stories across Kansas, including a focus on consumer issues. You can contact Taylor by email.
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KSHB 41 has covered the plans to bring a new AI data center to the city of Independence.
But there's a growing number of people who hope it's not too late to prevent the facility from being built, or, at the very least, to change some of the plans that are already in place.
The group is called Stop the AI Data Center in Independence, and more than 1,500 people have joined on Facebook.
I heard about the group during KSHB 41's Let's Talk event in Independence last week.
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I spoke with one of the founders, Rachel Gonzalez, about why the opposition exists.
"It is set to be 2.25 million square feet, nearly twice the size of Arrowhead Stadium," Gonzalez told me. "It's not a typical data center; it's an AI data center that requires lots of water to keep the microchips cool, it requires lots of energy, and the building of a brand new power plant. So not only are we getting a data center, we're also dealing with a power plant that is four times the size of the current existing power plant that could power over 500,000 homes a year, and that's essentially in our backyard."
The group is inviting the public to attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mark's United Methodist Church. Gonzalez tells me that at least two members of the Independence City Council will attend to answer questions.
She told me some members of the group might consider moving away from Independence if the project goes through to completion.
"Particularly the people that live right on Bly Road, which is right where this data center is said to be," Gonzalez said. "I went out to Bly Road, I talked to several of my neighbors that live over there, and many of them told me that they've lived there for 30, 40 years. But they are seriously considering moving because they are worried about the constant light and noise and the pollution that this data center would give off."
Gonzalez also told me that at least one city council member has suggested to her that they will change their support of the project because of the strong opposition this group has presented.
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