Johnson County

Moratoriums and bans

1. June 1, 2026 Gardner: Moratorium rejected. A motion for a six-month pause on data center applications died for lack of a second. (Johnson County Post, June 2, 2026)
2. July 23, 2026 Edgerton: Citizen petition ban (in court). A certified petition would ban data centers over 10 MW peak load or 100,000 gallons a day; the council voted 3-1 to ask the district court whether it can be adopted by petition. The council had rejected a six-month moratorium in June. (City of Edgerton, July 24, 2026; Johnson County Post, June 29, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Oct. 12, 2026 Project Jayhawk (Digital Realty), Astra Enterprise Park · Digital Realty announced yearly household credits of up to $1,000 for 10 years; residents opposing the project said their petition had passed 400 signatures. (KSHB 41, Oct. 12, 2026)
2. Sept. 24, 2026 Project Heartland (DAMAC Digital), Logistics Park Kansas City · The council approved the final plat after the planning commission recommended it on Sept. 8. (City of Edgerton, Sept. 24, 2026)
3. July 23, 2026 Project Pilot (Beale Infrastructure), De Soto · The city administrator told KSHB the development agreement approved in August 2025 does not cap building size and the enlarged plan fit existing zoning. (KSHB 41, July 23, 2026)
4. July 23, 2026 Project Jayhawk (Digital Realty), Astra Enterprise Park · A city spokesperson said Digital Realty had filed a site plan, then expected before the planning commission in August. (KSHB 41, July 23, 2026)
5. July 23, 2026 Edgerton: Citizen petition ban (in court) · A certified petition would ban data centers over 10 MW peak load or 100,000 gallons a day; the council voted 3-1 to ask the district court whether it can be adopted by petition. The council had rejected a six-month moratorium in June. (City of Edgerton, July 24, 2026; Johnson County Post, June 29, 2026)
6. July 16, 2026 Project Heartland (DAMAC Digital), Logistics Park Kansas City · The City Council overturned the denial at a special meeting. (City of Edgerton, Sept. 24, 2026)
7. June 18, 2026 Project Pilot (Beale Infrastructure), De Soto · Beale held a public open house in De Soto as residents objected that the project had grown from the designs shown in 2025. (Johnson County Post, July 7, 2026)
8. June 9, 2026 Project Heartland (DAMAC Digital), Logistics Park Kansas City · The planning commission denied the final site plan after resident opposition. (City of Edgerton, Sept. 24, 2026; KSHB 41, June 10, 2026)
9. June 4, 2026 Project Jayhawk (Digital Realty), Astra Enterprise Park · Company representatives presented initial plans to the De Soto City Council. (Johnson County Post, June 29, 2026)
10. June 1, 2026 Gardner: Moratorium rejected · A motion for a six-month pause on data center applications died for lack of a second. (Johnson County Post, June 2, 2026)
11. May 12, 2026 Project Heartland (DAMAC Digital), Logistics Park Kansas City · The planning commission approved a preliminary plat and tabled the final site plan. (City of Edgerton, Sept. 24, 2026)
12. May 6, 2026 Beale Infrastructure data center, Gardner · The city said Beale withdrew its application after being told no public incentives would be granted. (KCUR (Johnson County Post), May 7, 2026)
13. May 4, 2026 Beale Infrastructure data center, Gardner · About 100 people attended a Gardner City Council meeting and more than 30 spoke against the plan. (KCUR (Johnson County Post), May 7, 2026)
14. April 2026 Project Pilot (Beale Infrastructure), De Soto · Beale began construction after the planning commission approved a site plan that more than doubled the building area to about 2.9 million square feet in four buildings. (Johnson County Post, July 7, 2026)
15. April 2026 Project Jayhawk (Digital Realty), Astra Enterprise Park · Digital Realty bought about 1,440 acres at Astra Enterprise Park from Sunflower Redevelopment Group, according to DCD. (DatacenterDynamics, June 22, 2026)
16. March 6, 2026 Bullock Capital and Colossus Data Center Advisors, Spring Hill · The companies withdrew their application after residents opposed rezoning the land, which the city annexed in December 2025, to general industrial. (FOX4 (WDAF), March 6, 2026)
17. Aug. 21, 2025 Project Pilot (Beale Infrastructure), De Soto · The De Soto City Council approved the project with industrial revenue bonds, a development agreement and planned property tax abatements, according to trade and business press. (DatacenterDynamics, Aug. 26, 2025; Ingram's, Aug. 26, 2025)

Statewide

SB 98 (signed April 24, 2025; in effect July 1, 2025) offers a qualified firm a sales tax exemption lasting 20 years from the start of operations on the costs of building, equipping and servicing a qualified data center (electricity is not an eligible cost). To qualify, the firm must commit to at least $250 million in eligible investment by its fifth year of operations, start construction within 10 years of its agreement with the Secretary of Commerce, create and keep 20 new jobs within two calendar years, adopt water conservation and reuse practices and buy power for 10 years from the utility certified for the site; after an uncured breach (120 days' notice), Commerce may recover or end the exemption. The enrolled text reviewed sets no application deadline or sunset for the exemption itself. (Kansas Legislature, April 24, 2025; Kansas Legislative Research Department, 2025; Kansas Legislature, April 11, 2025) SB 98 also requires the Secretary of Commerce to get approval from the state's fusion center oversight board before giving any public financial help to a qualified data center, after the Kansas Intelligence Fusion Center reviews its equipment and software for threats to critical infrastructure; the board may approve, require changes or deny. The same bill amended K.S.A. 66-101j so a qualified data center cannot receive an electric utility's economic development rate discount. (Kansas Legislature, April 11, 2025; Kansas Legislative Research Department, 2025) KCC docket 25-EKME-315-TAR: Evergy filed its Large Load Power Service (LLPS) tariff for its Kansas Central and Kansas Metro territories on Feb. 11, 2025; all active parties (including the Data Center Coalition, Google, the Sierra Club and NRDC, per trade press) filed a unanimous settlement on Aug. 18, 2025, and the commission approved it on Nov. 6, 2025. The plan covers new or expanding loads of 75 MW or more (CURB's wording; the KCC's briefing and Utility Dive say above 75 MW), sets a 12-year minimum term after up to five years of ramp, bills at least 80% of contract demand, requires collateral of up to two years of minimum bills and puts loads of 25 MW or more through a queue that moves up to four projects at a time; it applies only to Evergy, not to cooperatives or municipal utilities such as KCK's Board of Public Utilities. (Kansas Corporation Commission, Jan. 15, 2026; Citizens' Utility Ratepayer Board, 2025; Utility Dive, Nov. 10, 2025) Estimates of how much more LLPS customers will pay than existing large industrial customers differ by source: 7% to 10% (KCC staff, as cited from the order by Utility Dive) or 8% to 10% on an all-in bill basis and 16% to 19% on base demand and energy charges (the KCC's January 2026 legislative briefing); these are projected rate differences, not bills paid. Evergy's February 2025 filing reported more than 20 prospective large-load customers totaling over 6 GW in Kansas, per Utility Dive. (Kansas Corporation Commission, Jan. 15, 2026; Utility Dive, Nov. 10, 2025) 2026 session: SB 531, requested by Sen. Murphy, would have barred new large-load data centers in any county with a drought emergency declared in the prior three years; it died in committee. KMUW reported that Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi had earlier urged, then unsuccessfully sought to legislate, a three-year pause in drought counties. Other 2026 data center bills listed by trackers (SB 400 on closed-loop cooling, SB 526 on zoning eligibility for the SB 98 exemption) were not opened in the Legislature's records for this review. (Kansas Legislature, April 10, 2026; KMUW, May 7, 2026) Citizen-initiated ordinances under K.S.A. 12-3013 were tried in several cities in 2026: petitions to ban large or 'high impact' data centers were certified or verified in Edgerton and Ottawa and filed in El Dorado and Emporia. Edgerton, El Dorado and Emporia asked district courts whether the measures are a proper subject for initiative, and Ottawa residents sued their city. Judges ordered the Emporia and Ottawa questions onto the November 2026 ballot while validity is decided, and ruled for the El Dorado petitioners, leaving that city to adopt the ordinance or put it to voters; Edgerton's case was pending. (City of Edgerton, July 24, 2026; KWCH 12, Aug. 25, 2026; WIBW, Aug. 20, 2026; KSHB 41, Sept. 3, 2026) Kansas data centers →