Editor’s note: Leavenworth County Commissioner Mike Stieben periodically submits commentary about local issues involving the County Commission. He is weighing in on a work session this past week regarding data centers as disussion about a potential center south of Tonganoxie gains traction.

The Leavenworth County Board of County Commissions hosted a work session Wednesday, March 18 to gain a general understanding of the workings of data centers and what the potential scope of the proposed Tonganoxie mega-data center might be.

The work session was standing room only and provided the opportunity for many local residents to offer public comment expressing their views. The majority of the public comments were in opposition to the proposal.

The entire six hour work session was live streamed and can be viewed on YouTube by searching for Leavenworth County Commission.

Work session participants included: Paul Hughes, Kansas Department of Commerce; Chuck Caisley, Executive Vice President of Utility Operations at Evergy; Justin Grady, Director of Utilities Division Kansas Corporation Commission; Aaron Bilyeu, Chief Development Officer of Cloverleaf; and Zach Pistora, Director, Kansas State Sierra Club.

County staff members were available for questions. City officials from Tonganoxie were invited but were not in attendance.

The development is led by Cloverleaf, which stated that it wanted openness and transparency.

Cloverleaf officials also said they do not bind local officials to non-disclosure agreements, and that they seek local community support.

Many citizens felt blindsided by the proposal, the clandestine approach to the mega-data center location, and the introduction of HB2664 which allows for on campus, off grid energy production as these facilities. Local legislators who were aware of the project did not inform residents and other local leaders of the potential mega-data center campus on approximately 1000 acres of the Tailgate Ranch, south of Tonganoxie.

During the work session, multiple questions were addressed to the developer to gain a better understanding of the planned project. When asked about yearly profit margins they would not answer. The group also agreed that the passage of Senate Bill 98 during the last legislative session was critical to their decision to consider coming to Tonganoxie, or anywhere else in Kansas. SB98 offers huge government incentives to developers by removing their sales tax. Very clearly this is another industry that our government is subsidizing to locate here even when the business is highly profitable and clearly could operate without a subsidy.

The illusion of transparency further dissolved when the Cloverleaf representative was asked if he could tell us which multi-billion dollar corporation the new mega-data center would represent? He could not.

To advance the proposal to build a mega-data center south of Tonganoxie, the data center brokerage group quietly launched a website touting the project named “project bluestem,” bluestemdatacenter.com.

Citizens can access the website to learn more about Cloverleaf’s perspective.

I am grateful that so many residents chose to attend this work session and express their views.

After listening carefully to all of the testimony, I have become convinced that this is a transformational moment for the city of Tonganoxie and southern Leavenworth County. If this mega-data center becomes a reality, it will change our community for the distant future. It is for this reason that I have called for a moratorium, or pause, on further development of this proposal until we can deeply study the associated issues including impact on electrical rates, water resources both locally and regionally and the rural character of our community.

The work session discussion was a good start, but it mainly represented the opinions of the developers and promoters of data centers. To promote additional discovery, we must hear from communities where data centers are currently operating and have the opportunity to tour such facilities to see the operation. Most importantly, I want to hear from my constituents so that I can represent your views.

— Stieben represents the Fifth District on the Leavenworth County Commission. He can be contacted at: mstieben@leavenworthcounty.gov and via telephone at 913-775-2772.