Kansas Gubernatorial Candidate Proposes Statewide Data Center Moratorium
Kansas gubernatorial candidate Cindy Holscher is calling for a statewide moratorium on new data center construction. She argues that the state needs to implement guardrails to protect water supplies, prevent rising electricity costs, and ensure community input, citing negative impacts seen in other states and a large hyperscale project in De Soto.
Kansas gubernatorial candidate and state legislator Cindy Holscher has proposed a statewide moratorium on new data center construction in Kansas. Holscher, who initially supported such developments, now believes that the rapid expansion of data centers, fueled by artificial intelligence, is causing significant negative impacts on water supplies, electricity costs, and community voices, drawing comparisons to problems experienced in states like Maryland, Virginia, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
Holscher emphasizes the need for 'guardrails' to protect affordability, shield families from higher energy bills, maintain clean drinking water, ensure local jobs, and guarantee communities have a voice in decisions. She points to a massive 1.14 million square-foot 'hyperscale' data center planned for De Soto as an example of the scale of development. Holscher argues that the promised benefits of these projects, such as tax revenue and jobs, often fail to materialize or are offset by the costs borne by local utility customers and communities.
She urges Kansas to learn from other states' mistakes, where corporate tax breaks for data centers have led to lost revenue and communities have raised alarms about immense construction projects lacking public input. Holscher states that Kansans are increasingly pushing back against these developments and that a moratorium is necessary until clear policies are established to protect residents, secure water resources, ensure economic benefits and transparency, and commit to reinvesting in communities.