KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie.
—
Thursday afternoon, leaders in Kansas City, Missouri, denied a proposal for a 20-story data center in downtown.
Developers wanted to tear down the building at 934 Central Street and replace it with the skyscraper.
Residents fought the proposal every step of the way, leading to the City Plan Commission denial in August.
The distaste for data centers was clear on election night earlier this month. Voters in Ottawa and other Kansas cities voted to place bans on data center construction in their limits.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, took to social media Wednesday responding to the election night results that overwhelmingly favored Democratic candidates.
“Senate Republicans trying to figure out what to do in the next 6 weeks? Here you go: Defund Planned Parenthood, moratorium on data centers, suspend the gas tax, fund rural hospitals, Save America Act,” Hawley wrote on X.
A spokesperson clarified Hawley’s stance on the nationwide moratorium.
“Senator Hawley is calling for a federal data center moratorium until Congress passes a bill of rights giving taxpayers guarantees of no rate increases.”
“I don’t immediately say ‘no,’” said Kirsten Horton, who works in the building developers targeted downtown. “But I’d want to know on the reverse, what’s the long-term effect of not having data centers?”
Several Kansas City council members said Thursday they’d support studying how to better ensure future data centers benefit the community.
—
