Douglas County residents mobilize early against possible data centers

More than 100 people packed the Lawrence Public Library on June 23 for the first public push by Douglas County Data Center Watchdogs, a new coalition trying to get ahead of data-center development before any formal proposal lands in the county. Organizers said waiting until an application is filed could be too late, so residents should start organizing now, show up at public meetings and make their concerns known before developers gain traction.

Douglas County and the City of Lawrence already have the policy scaffolding in place. The City of Lawrence’s Land Development Code, effective Feb. 17, 2026, lists data centers as a permitted use in industrial zoning districts, which means some projects could move forward without a City Commission vote if they meet the district standards. Douglas County commissioners first directed staff in July 2024 to study zoning questions around data centers, battery energy storage systems and cryptocurrency mining. In May 2026, county planning staff recommended allowing data centers in industrial-zoned areas, with conditional use permits required in Douglas County.

Kansas Senate Bill 98, enacted in 2025, created a 20-year sales-and-use-tax exemption for qualified data centers. To qualify, a project must involve at least $250 million in investment and at least 20 new jobs. The program is meant to attract large-scale, permanent data centers and includes cybersecurity and critical-infrastructure review. Organizers said the incentive structure could make projects easier to pencil out financially.

Utility demand is another flash point. In November 2025, the Kansas Corporation Commission approved a large-load power service tariff for customers using more than 75 megawatts of peak power. Evergy has also been preparing for large-load customers. Project Bluestem near Tonganoxie could require up to 1.2 gigawatts of power, and a 290-acre digital infrastructure campus near De Soto would eventually include four data center buildings.

The mobilization inside Lawrence has already spilled into city hall. On June 9, the Lawrence City Commission asked staff to bring back a data-center moratorium proposal within 30 days after standing-room-only public comment, and Holly Krebs said 54 people had written to the commission in just a few days.