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Kansas Department of Commerce briefs Ottawa County on data centers, local safeguards and questions about power and water
Summary
Paul Hughes of the Kansas Department of Commerce told commissioners how data centers are sited, how power requirements and megawatt thresholds affect planning, and that Kansas law generally prevents data centers from shifting infrastructure costs to residential ratepayers; commissioners asked about megawatts, acreage and whether Ottawa County should seek courtesy notice from Evergy.
Paul Hughes, a Kansas Department of Commerce official, told Ottawa County commissioners on Tuesday that communities considering data centers should first check power availability and understand a project’s megawatt demand. "The data center industry measures its size... in the megawatts that are required to power the data center," Hughes said, explaining that the Southwest Power Pool begins formal planning for loads above about 75 megawatts.
Hughes described a range of data‑center sizes and technologies and addressed common local concerns — power, water and noise — noting modern equipment and air‑cooled designs often reduce water demand. He also underscored state safeguards for incentive programs, including disclosure to an intelligence fusion center for projects that pursue state incentives. "In Kansas, it's prohibited by law for a data center to pass their infrastructure costs to the residential rate payers," Hughes said, adding that the Kansas Corporation Commission has established protections to keep those costs from being shifted to households.
Commissioners asked practical questions about detecting speculative developers, how big sites might be (Hughes said small sites often range 10–50 acres while very large projects may require hundreds of acres), and how to craft zoning or a county master plan that limits large projects by megawatt thresholds rather than by a simple land‑use label. Hughes recommended contacting Evergy’s economic development office for courtesy notice if a data center evaluates Ottawa County and offered the Department’s cost‑benefit analysis tool to inform local deliberations.
The presentation concluded with commissioners agreeing to ask Evergy for a notice process and to circulate Southwest Power Pool planning material; Commerce offered to remain a resource as the county assesses any project that might pursue local incentives.
