Opposition Grows to AI Data Center in Independence
Independence residents are out in force, opposing what’s being called a “sweetheart” deal between the city and a foreign data center. As of Wednesday, volunteers continue going door-to-door collecting signatures for a petition to put the massive incentive package to a public vote. They need around 3,700 names in the next 30 days.
The action comes after a standing-room-only meeting Monday night inside Independence City Hall where tempers were running high. After more than five hours of heated public comments, with dozens of locals begging the council to slow down, the vote still came down 5-2. Yes to giving a Dutch tech company called Nebius a big tax break and up to $150.6 billion in industrial revenue bonds for what they call an “AI factory” near Little Blue Parkway and Highway 78.
The project is a sprawling 400-acre campus with more than 2 million square feet of server buildings. Once running full tilt it could pull 800 megawatts, maybe even 1.2 gigawatts of power. People here did the math fast: that’s enough electricity for 400,000 to 500,000 average homes. In a city with only about 55,000 households, that kind of demand has folks asking who pays when the grid gets stressed and Evergy raises rates or pushes through expensive upgrades. The incentive package the city approved is 150 times larger than the entire Kansas incentive package for the Chiefs to move across the state line.
Rachel Gonzalez, who has been leading the charge with Stop the AI Data Center in Independence (their Facebook page has topped 3,100 members), voiced the growing anger at the meeting. “I think a lot of us have moved on from being sad, and now we’re just angry. We are angry that our City Council heard 49 speeches tonight against the data center from different concerns. It seems like our city council is just looking at the potential dollar signs from this project, and they don’t have any real protections for the people that live here,” she said.
Opponents also hit hard on the tax deal: Nebius gets roughly $6.26 billion in property tax breaks over 20 years, a 90 percent abatement on buildings and equipment, while promising about $651 million in payments in lieu of taxes. To many in the room it sounded like the city was giving away far too much to a foreign company, leaving locals to cover the difference if energy costs climb or nearby property values drop.
“This vote is not an abstract. It affects residential property values, cost of living and quality of life,” said Daniel Morehead, a resident near the site. “Citizens will remember how you balance city growth against citizen stewardship; they’ll remember whether risk was imposed on them without enforceable protection.”
Mary Hoff, another opponent, worried about wildlife. “I sit on my screened-in back porch now, and I can watch the woodpeckers come, the blue jays, the cardinals, they all come and eat. We had migrating birds come the beginning of December, right down here at the construction site…they come every year,” she told KansasCityDefender ahead of the vote. They came this year and landed and didn’t have enough food…All these beautiful birds that were out there in the dirt looking for their food.”
The site is close to the Little Blue River, walking trails, schools, and even an eagle nesting area. Residents voiced worries about nonstop noise from cooling fans, added heat in the neighborhood, and how much water the facility will need to keep the servers running.
Councilmember Brice Stewart and Mayor Rory Rowland were the only two who voted no, pointing to the risks. Everyone else approved it, even with what observers say were convincing public concerns.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway says the state is also concerned with the agreement. “We are watching it very closely to see if misrepresentations are being made to the public about how much water or how much energy will be consumed,” she told KSHB News.
–Dwight Widaman
