Kansas City Metro Data Center Boom Faces Public Opposition

The Kansas City metropolitan area is experiencing a significant data center boom, with new projects prompting public resistance. In Gardner, Kansas, a proposal for a 16-building data center was recently thwarted by public pushback. However, a new data center proposal for Gardner is now slated for review by the city planning commission this Tuesday. Additionally, a Texas developer has acquired 1,400 acres near De Soto, Kansas, for another large data center campus, close to the new Panasonic EV battery plant. The article notes that opposition to data center development is a growing, bipartisan issue across the U.S., driven by concerns about their local impact despite the demand for related digital services.