Kearney poised to go all in on data centers even as many Nebraska towns throttle back
The city of Kearney, Nebraska, is moving forward with a major 368-megawatt data center campus, Tech One Crossing, by Worldwide Mission Critical, after adopting a new zoning ordinance with specific restrictions. This initiative contrasts with a trend of moratoriums in other Nebraska communities. The project still requires final approval from the Kearney City Council, amidst resident concerns over noise, water, and energy use.
The City of Kearney, Nebraska, is distinguishing itself from other communities in the state by actively courting the data center industry, despite increasing local scrutiny and a trend of moratoriums on new data center projects across Nebraska. Kearney recently passed a new zoning ordinance designed specifically for data centers, which includes restrictions on noise, water consumption, and energy use to address common community concerns.
The city's first major project under these new regulations is a multi-phase data center campus called Tech One Crossing, developed by Virginia-based Worldwide Mission Critical. This ambitious project is expected to consume 368 megawatts of power upon full build-out, significantly more than the combined consumption of Kearney, Grand Island, and Hastings. The new facility will replace a 100-megawatt cryptocurrency mine previously operated by Compute North (now defunct), then Generate Capital, and currently by Marathon Digital Holdings, which has struck a deal to transition its power allocation to Tech One Crossing.
Despite the new regulations, some Kearney residents, like local government contractor Josh Lillyman, express unease about the project's massive scale and the anonymity of its future tenants. Lillyman, who served on a citizen advisory committee that helped shape the ordinance, emphasized the ongoing need for community vigilance to ensure compliance. The committee, formed after Lillyman raised concerns at a City Council meeting, worked with city officials to formulate regulations, including a 55-decibel noise limit and requirements for conditional use permits and water studies.
The development of Tech One Crossing is seen by some as the culmination of over a decade of efforts by Kearney to attract a major tech presence, a goal that famously saw the city lose out to Altoona, Iowa, on a Facebook (Meta) data center project in the past. Worldwide Mission Critical's application for a conditional use permit under the new ordinance awaits approval from the Kearney City Council at an upcoming meeting on September 8th, with initial construction slated for completion by late 2027 and full capacity by 2030.