Amazon to build $10 billion data center west of St. Louis

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe revealed Amazon's plans to construct a $10 billion data center campus in Montgomery County, located east of New Florence and west of St. Louis. This significant investment is anticipated to create 400 full-time jobs and thousands of trade jobs, in addition to generating hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenue for the area. The Amazon facility will be situated close to a multibillion-dollar data center already under construction by Google.

Shannon Kellogg, AWS Public Policy of Americas for Amazon, noted that the campus would initially consist of several buildings with potential for future expansion. He explained that advancements in AI technology have made locations like Missouri more viable for data center development due to reduced latency concerns. Amazon also committed an additional $7 million in local investments and detailed efforts to minimize environmental impact, including a cooling system that will use water only up to 7% of the time. Through a partnership with Arable Labs, Amazon aims to help local farmers improve irrigation efficiency and reduce groundwater withdrawals, expecting a 100 million gallon reduction in water use.

Governor Kehoe expressed confidence in the power grid's capacity to support both Amazon and Google's data centers. Montgomery County Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston enthusiastically welcomed the investment, emphasizing the anticipated growth in the school district's real estate and property tax revenue, as well as improvements to the county's health department. Both Kellogg and Poston indicated that the Amazon data center would take years to complete, with a tentative target of 2032, while the Google data center is expected to be finished within three years. Amazon plans to hold an open house on June 23 to address community questions regarding water, power, sound, and environmental impact.