De Soto, Kansas is at a flashpoint. Our city council and admin recently announced they anticipate building not one but at least two confirmed data centers in the vicinity of the citizens. This petition calls on city council and staff to PAUSE all existing talks and initiate a 2 year moratorium on data centers while research catches up to emerging health, environmental, and financial concerns.

Data centers aren't new. However, what is new is the increased “demand” by these particular types of structures and the strains they put on average citizens across the country. For example, a single hyperscale data center now potentially consumes as much energy as approximately 2 million American households.

Thanks to the rise in these extreme data center power requirements, residential energy rates increased by a whopping 31% between 2020 - 2025 compared to 4% from 2015 - 2020. This isn’t anticipated to slow down anytime soon, either. Without moratoriums and strict regulations, US data center energy demand may hit 580TWh (terawatt hours) by 2028. That’s 12% of total national demand, equal to 55 million US households.

The idea that data centers “bring their own power” to the table is a corporate myth. While proponents of building centers claim that self-powering means self-paying, this does not actually protect households from rate increases. In states like New York and Georgia, new demand in energy consumption increased residential costs whether data centers pulled from the grid or not. A report by Powerlines notes that US gas and electric utility companies requested $31 billion in rate increases in 2025 alone– a staggering double of what they requested in 2024. Since reducing consumption is one of the easiest ways to reduce electric bills, raising consumption will inevitably increase the price level of production for everyone.

Additionally, water is an ever growing concern as we face drought issuances across the country and state. The amount of water data centers required tripled between 2014 and 2023. Furthermore, estimates suggest that by 2028, AI data centers may use as much water as 18.5 million households for their server cooling alone. That’s approximately 720 BILLION gallons of water every year, going towards data center cooling. While De Soto council claims there's an abundance of water available in the city's water rights, they are also proposing massive growth in other areas like residential. There are no protections in place for the inevitable rise in requirements for data centers as we continue to face unprecedented drought levels and increasing hot periods.

“Closed loop” technology, like the centers De Soto wants to put in, claim they’ll consume no water. However, “consume” in the context of data centers simply means that none of the withdrawn water gets discharged back into the environment after use. Second: closed loop systems still utilize either air cooling (which requires giant fans) or evaporation to some degree. It’s not uncommon for them to lose at least 25% of their water volume monthly. Closed loop systems suffer from bacterial growth, meaning equipment corrodes faster and increases maintenance costs of the facility overall. The various chemicals added to help reduce this corrosion eventually get released into the local environment whenever water systems from the centers get flushed. This ultimately consumes more water and causes serious long term water quality concerns.

Fan cooled systems are no better. While they may utilize less water, they are forced to make up for this by consuming more power, especially during hotter times of the year or in hot climates.

Health concerns are yet another documented issue that have not been addressed by any authority in De Soto, despite repeated community input. Noisy cooling systems from data centers in Virginia create headaches and insomnia for the residents. Loudon County residents compare the constant buzzing of data centers approximately 200 feet from their homes to a giant fan or lawn mower running 24 hours a day. Even closing the windows doesn’t diminish the hum. We’re already experiencing the pain of rezoning land to feed the insatiable hunger of grid operators who put up electric transmission lines, running through miles of our community and nature alike.

The reliance of data centers on back up generators is an issue. Generators issue harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. These all contribute heavily to smog levels, which exacerbates childhood asthma cases and elderly cognitive decline. Claiming that data center campuses or projects adhere to US EPA standards doesn’t mean much, either; as recently as 2025, the EPA “clarified” that data centers can run backup generators for up to 50 hours per year! This air pollution doesn’t simply stay in the community that creates it; smog can cross county and even state lines, ultimately costing millions of dollars in public health. One proposed facility is under 3 miles from schools in De Soto; any usage of generators or back up power will undoubtedly affect our youth.

As if these environmental and health concerns aren’t enough, the financial implications of endorsing not one but multiple facilities of this nature are precarious at best. The AI-led stock market, which is largely responsible for fueling data center growth, has not materialized any actual profits yet. Trusting corporations that engage in shady financial behavior like circular investing and operate with debt-to-equity ratios of 500% helped fuel both the dot com bust and the 2008 financial crash. These were both devastating to communities nationwide. The AI data center trend is no different, especially regarding facility exemptions on sales or use tax. In the 2025 fiscal year alone, Virginia lost $1.6 billion in tax revenue from data centers by utilizing these types of exemptions. Georgia in 2024 similarly lost $450 million. Basically, because of these historic trends, risky investments like data centers deserve community input, not secrecy and forced, vague proposals that are prone to unexpected changes or expansion.

The final nail in the coffin is repeated methods in which these corporations are approaching our community and introduced to the citizens. In the past, there has been very little communication regarding upcoming projects or proposals to De Soto residents. When we speak up with concerns, we are ruefully chastised. "You elected us so that means you trust our choices." No 5 person council, no 7 person planning commission, should be responsible for deciding the health and safety of 6,700 people. Individuals who do not even live in our city should NOT be allowed to bring in corporate interests that will drastically alter the area. Changing tree dense landscape into industrial-ridden, smog producing facilities goes directly against what we love about our town.

But what does this mean for De Soto? What does this mean for our neighbors and surrounding communities? Well, for perspective: a single hyperscale center can currently consume as much energy as 100,000 households. The constant fluctuation of energy requirements causes infrastructure strain. Water needs are unpredictable yet consistently increasing. “Closed loop” systems come with a host of their own problems, including additional pollution. The location for the centers is nearby schools, homes, and other spaces that our community occupies. Is it worth risking our long term health and resource availability for untenable, unproven investments?

We, the citizens and supporters of De Soto, say NO MORE DATA CENTERS.

Rick Walker

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