Opinion: Data Center Expansion Drives Rural Land-Use Concerns in Barber County, Kansas
An opinion article argues that data center expansion and the transmission, wind and solar infrastructure supporting it are driving up rural land values and pushing farmers off their property. It cites a 2,100-acre AI data center site in Barber County, Kansas, and federal financing for an electric generation facility in Georgia, but does not identify the developers involved.
Trent Loos argues that hyperscale AI data centers are fueling a broader land-use shift in rural America by increasing the value of parcels near transmission lines, substations and other power infrastructure. He points to Barber County, Kansas, where a high-voltage transmission line, wind development and thousands of acres of solar panels preceded officials’ approval of a 2,100-acre AI data center site.
The article also references a $3.3 billion U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for an electric generation facility in Georgia, a region with rapid data center growth, as well as an Altus Group analysis linking data center land values to committed power, proximity to electrical infrastructure and parcel size. Loos, whose views are disclaimed by the High Plains Journal, contends that these developments threaten rural land ownership and urges residents to oppose them.