Massive data center proposals near Douglas County raise power, water concerns

Two massive data center proposals just outside Douglas County are forcing a bigger question than whether a pair of industrial campuses can win approval: who pays when the grid, water lines and roads have to absorb city-size demand?

Project Bluestem, near rural Tonganoxie, could be about 15 minutes from Lawrence and may need as much as 1.2 gigawatts of power if it advances as envisioned. That scale is hard to miss. It is close to the electricity used by the entire city of San Francisco, a comparison that turns the proposal from a land-use issue into a regional infrastructure test.

A second project is moving even faster in De Soto, just less than a mile outside the Douglas County line. The campus is planned for the Flint Commerce Center at the northwest corner of 103rd Street and Edgerton Road and would eventually include four data center buildings across more than 1 million square feet. At full buildout, city materials describe it as a multi-phase campus. In August 2025, the De Soto City Council approved a development agreement and an intent to use IRB-based incentives to support the project.

Beale Infrastructure said Tuesday that the De Soto campus would be a $3 billion infrastructure investment. The company said the first phase would include at least two facilities plus supporting infrastructure, with hundreds of construction jobs and 50 operational roles. Groundbreaking is expected in May, putting construction on a fast track as utility planning catches up.

The tax structure around these projects is just as important as the buildings themselves. Kansas Senate Bill 98, enacted in 2025, created a 20-year state and local tax exemption for qualified data centers. To qualify, a firm must commit at least $250 million in eligible investment and create at least 20 jobs within two years of operations. Guidance from the Kansas Department of Revenue says the exemption covers purchases tied to construction, reconstruction, enlarging or remodeling.

Evergy would supply power to both projects, and a new large-load tariff is meant to keep the cost of serving power-hungry users from spilling onto ordinary ratepayers. That matters in Douglas County, where residents already weigh whether growth along the county line will mean stronger service or more strain on the same system that powers homes, schools and small businesses.

Water is part of the same ledger. De Soto’s 2026 budget included funding for rising water and sewer demand tied to growth, a sign that the city is already budgeting for the pressure that comes with development of this size.

Douglas County has not embraced that scale without caution. County leaders have kept data centers and crypto mines on hold until regulations are developed, signaling that the debate is no longer about whether the region will see these projects, but how much of the burden nearby communities are willing to carry before the first server rack is ever turned on.