Voters to decide on data center projects across the U.S.
Voters in Emporia, El Dorado and Ottawa, Kansas, will decide whether to prohibit or impose 10-year moratoriums on high-impact or hyperscale data centers. The measures set limits based on electricity demand and water use, while court rulings have allowed the citizen initiatives to proceed to the ballot.
Kansas voters in Emporia, El Dorado and Ottawa are set to decide ballot measures that would restrict data center development. Emporia’s proposal would prohibit high-impact facilities across all zoning districts, using thresholds of more than 10 megawatts of electrical load or 100,000 gallons of daily water use. El Dorado’s measure would similarly impose a 10-year moratorium and allow changes only through another public vote, while also restricting some battery energy storage systems.
In Ottawa, voters will decide whether hyperscale data centers may be developed within city limits for 10 years. The initiative was advanced by Ottawa United Inc., which opposed a proposed 300-acre data center site; the city has since terminated its contract with the interested developer. Courts in the three communities have addressed challenges to the citizen initiatives, clearing the way for the measures to appear on the ballot, although implementation of Emporia’s ordinance may face additional legal review.