Kansas Data Center Policy | Server Country

1) Incentive programs

Kansas High-Performance Computing and Data Center Incentive (SB 98, 2025)

Program & authority. Kansas enacted SB 98 in 2025 and codified the data center incentive framework in K.S.A. 74-50,331 through 74-50,334, with the Department of Commerce administering the sales-tax exemption application process for qualified data centers. Kansas Legislature, 2026-06-10 Kansas Department of Commerce, 2026-06-10
Key eligibility thresholds. A qualified firm must invest at least $250 million in eligible data center costs within five calendar years after operations commence and must create and maintain at least 20 new jobs within two calendar years after operations commence. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Agreement, reporting, and clawback. The firm must apply to Commerce, enter into a project agreement, commit to the investment, begin construction within 10 years of the agreement, and accept reporting and repayment/clawback terms if it fails to meet statutory or agreement requirements. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Sales tax exemption. The exemption covers eligible costs and labor for qualified data centers and data center equipment, including server, storage, networking, power, cooling, cabling, backup-generation, security, and water-conservation systems; the exemption does not cover the cost of electricity. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025 Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Duration. The exemption is valid for 20 years after commencement of operations. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Utility and water conditions. A qualified firm must purchase electricity for at least 10 years from a certified public utility and must implement water-conservation, reuse, or replacement practices as required by the Commerce agreement. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Security review. Before public financial assistance or benefits are awarded, the Kansas Intelligence Fusion Center must review the proposed project and associated equipment/software risks. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Implementation materials. Commerce continued to accept SB 98 applications year-round as of July 17, 2026, and its March 2026 data-center fact sheet emphasized the KCC large-load tariff, 80% minimum-bill protections, infrastructure-cost responsibility, and the SB 98 bar on economic-development electricity discounts for data centers. Kansas Department of Commerce, 2026-07-17 Kansas Department of Commerce, 2026-03

Utility-rate incentives (limits added in 2025)

Economic-development rate discounts unavailable. SB 98 amended K.S.A. 66-101j so data centers are not eligible for Kansas economic-development rate discounts. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025

2) Restrictions and moratoriums

Local moratoriums, pauses, and temporary holds

Harvey County. Harvey County adopted a moratorium on new large-scale data center development in January 2026, effective through December 31, 2028, while the county studies land-use and infrastructure impacts. Harvey County, 2026-01-21
Sedgwick County and Wichita. Sedgwick County extended its interim development control through September 11, 2026, and the Wichita City Council extended the city’s moratorium on new data center development through September 10, 2026. KWCH, 2026-05-06 City of Wichita, 2026-05-06
Kingman County. Kingman County adopted Resolution No. 2026-R9 in February 2026 imposing a temporary moratorium on data centers in unincorporated Kingman County. Kingman County News, 2026-02-12
McPherson County. McPherson County’s temporary moratorium for data centers applies to unincorporated areas and runs through December 1, 2026; county officials framed the pause as time to develop regulations for emerging technologies. Ad Astra Radio, 2026-02-13
Saline County. The Saline County Commission adopted a moratorium covering data centers and other emerging technologies that is effective until March 1, 2029. Salina311, 2026-03-28
Miami County. Miami County adopted a three-year moratorium restricting data centers, battery storage, and similar technologies in unincorporated areas; the restriction does not apply to Osawatomie’s in-city Project Catalyst site. KSHB, 2026-05-29
Riley County. Riley County enacted a data center moratorium on May 18, 2026 that runs through November 12, 2026. KMAN, 2026-05-19
Leavenworth County. The Leavenworth County Commission approved a 90-day moratorium on accepting data-center applications and directed planning staff to prepare data-center regulations; the motion passed 4-1 at the May 13, 2026 meeting. Leavenworth County, 2026-05-13
South Hutchinson. South Hutchinson adopted a one-year moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems, with the ordinance directing the Planning Commission to review existing regulations and draft zoning rules for those uses before the moratorium ends. The Hutchinson Tribune, 2026-05-26
Geary County. The Geary County Commission adopted a 12-month data-center moratorium on June 22, 2026. Kansas Press Association, 2026-06-24
Lawrence. The Lawrence City Commission unanimously adopted a 24-month moratorium on data-center development within the city limits on July 14 and initiated work on comprehensive-plan and land-development-code amendments. Lawrence Journal-World, 2026-07-14
Topeka. The Topeka City Council approved a 12-month pause on data-center development on July 14, 2026 while the city develops regulations. WIBW, 2026-07-14
El Dorado. El Dorado’s city commission imposed a moratorium through November 30, 2026 while a court determines the validity of a certified citizen petition seeking to prohibit high-impact data centers and larger battery-storage facilities. On July 13, the commission authorized a declaratory-judgment action rather than immediately adopting or sending the petition to election. City of El Dorado, 2026-07-14
Rejected or declined pauses. Edgerton’s City Council rejected a proposed moratorium 3-2 on June 11, and Reno County commissioners rejected an outright ban on data centers and battery-storage systems on June 17 while continuing to study regulation. Kansas City Star, 2026-06-16 KWCH, 2026-06-17

Zoning and land-use constraints (state and local framework)

Local zoning authority. Kansas delegates zoning power to local governments under K.S.A. 12-741 et seq., so data-center siting remains primarily a city/county zoning, rezoning, site-plan, and special-use-permit issue absent a specific statewide override. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Protest-petition supermajority rule. If a valid protest petition is filed, rezoning approval requires the local governing body to meet the statutory supermajority threshold, which can materially affect contested data-center rezonings. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Finney County SUP rules. Finney County adopted a data-center-specific special-use-permit attachment effective April 20, 2026, requiring information on peak MW demand, power supply, water use, air quality, backup generation, fire/emergency plans, decommissioning, sound limits, and utility service availability. Finney County, 2026-04-20
Pottawatomie County draft regulations. After landowners near Emmett were approached by Atlanta-based Beltline, Pottawatomie County published proposed Data Center Overlay District regulations on June 23; the county notice still treated the public hearing and later BOCC action as pending rather than adopted. Pottawatomie County, 2026-06-23
Shawnee County amendments adopted. Shawnee County approved data-center zoning rules on July 2, replacing the June hearing status with a framework addressing where proposals may locate and what review standards apply. WIBW, 2026-07-02
Butler County draft process. Butler County’s regulations remained in draft at the cutoff: its published schedule called for a July 7 Planning Commission hearing, a July 21 work session, and possible Planning Commission action no earlier than August 4. Butler County, 2026-07-17

Environmental constraints (statewide rules that can affect data centers)

Water withdrawals. Kansas follows a prior-appropriation water rights system; industrial water use generally requires an existing right or a permit administered by the Division of Water Resources, which can constrain cooling-water-intensive designs. Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources, 2026-06-10
Air permits. Backup generators and other stationary equipment may require KDHE air-quality permits before construction or operation if emission thresholds or source categories trigger state or federal rules. Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 2022

3) Local governance and community opposition

No statewide preemption identified. The 2026 record continues to show local governments using zoning, moratoria, special-use permits, and site-plan review to manage data centers; no Kansas statute located in this update preempts local regulation of data centers as a class. Kansas Revisor of Statutes, 2025
Wyandotte County / KCK litigation and protest petitions. Red Wolf DCD purchased more than 150 acres on February 3 for its proposed $12.6 billion, 600 MW campus. The land closing did not resolve the zoning dispute: June reporting still described the six-unit project as stalled by a resident’s lawsuit, with possible boundary changes related to the planned Chiefs stadium. Kansas City Business Journal, 2026-02-03 Kansas City Star, 2026-06-08
Quindaro redevelopment and environmental review. PowerTransitions’ proposed reuse of the former Quindaro Power Station remained the furthest-advanced of three Wyandotte County data-center sites in June. The developer proposed a roughly $2.4 billion, 192-200 MW campus and said it would pay for site remediation and use a water-recycling cooling system; community advocates continued seeking clean-energy and air- and water-protection conditions. PowerTransitions, 2025-07-17 Kansas City Star, 2026-06-08
Spring Hill withdrawal. Red Wolf DCD withdrew plans for the proposed 316-acre Golden Line Center in Spring Hill after local pushback. Data Center Dynamics, 2026-03-04
Gardner withdrawal. Beale Infrastructure withdrew its Gardner data-center application after the city communicated that no incentives would be granted for the proposed project. City of Gardner, 2026-05-06
Edgerton/DAMAC controversy. The Planning Commission denied DAMAC Digital’s original site plan on June 9. DAMAC appealed and submitted a revised final site plan; the city scheduled the appeal for July 16 and the revised application for an August Planning Commission review, but the official project page had not posted an appeal disposition by the July 17 cutoff. City of Edgerton, 2026-06-26 City of Edgerton, 2026-07-17
Finney County / Holcomb concept, not an approved data center. Finney County approved Triple Oak’s separate 400 MW solar and battery-storage special-use permits on June 1. County and KCUR records said no data-center application had been filed and no final decision on a future digital-infrastructure project had been made. Greater Garden City, 2026-06-03 KCUR, 2026-06-09
Topeka / Compass Datacenters interest. GO Topeka confirmed early-stage interest in a possible Compass Datacenters site near Southwest 77th Street and Burlingame Road, but no application had been submitted. Nearby landowners raised transparency concerns after a company representative canceled an in-person meeting when a television crew arrived. WIBW, 2026-07-15
Tonganoxie / Project Bluestem. Project Bluestem proposed a roughly 1,000-acre, at-least-600 MW campus south of Tonganoxie. The city attorney concluded that an 18-month-moratorium petition concerned an administrative matter outside the statutory initiative process, and the City Council took no action on June 1; Leavenworth County’s separate 90-day pause remained the applicable county action. City of Tonganoxie, 2026-06-01 Kansas City Star, 2026-07-02
Emporia opposition and pending decision. After a six-and-a-half-hour hearing, the Planning Commission recommended the overlay text and site actions in split June 30 votes. Opponents then submitted nearly 1,400 signatures seeking to halt the Flint Hills Digital Campus or put it to a vote; the City Commission’s potential final action was postponed beyond the cutoff to July 22. City of Emporia, 2026-07-01 WIBW, 2026-07-08 KVOE, 2026-07-01
Reno County / Hutchinson-area opposition. Residents submitted a petition described as having 875 signatures and raised water, electricity, noise, emergency-response, tax-incentive, and local-control concerns. Commissioners rejected an outright ban on June 17 and continued studying possible regulations rather than adopting a countywide moratorium. The Hutchinson Tribune, 2026-05-27 KWCH, 2026-06-17

4) Legislative activity (2024-2026)

SB 98 (2025) - enacted and unchanged in 2026. SB 98 remains the governing Kansas data-center incentive statute; it established the sales-tax exemption, Commerce agreement process, KIFC review, and utility-rate discount exclusion. Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17
SB 92 (2026) - signed. SB 92 was signed by the governor and extends provisions affecting large-load customers and parallel generation. Utilities are not required to offer parallel-generation service to certain new or expanded 34.5 kV-or-higher facilities. Demand from covered new or expanded industrial, commercial, and data-center customers is excluded from the utility peak-demand calculation used for aggregate export capacity. The sunset was extended from July 1, 2026 to July 1, 2027. Kansas Legislature, 2026-06-10 Kansas Legislature Conference Committee Report for SB 92, 2026-04-29
SB 400 (2026) - died. SB 400 would have required data centers to use closed-loop cooling systems to mitigate water consumption, but it died without advancing from committee. Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17
SB 526 (2026) - died. SB 526 would have limited SB 98 sales-tax-exemption eligibility to data centers on land zoned industrial/manufacturing, or unzoned land, as of July 1, 2025, but it died without advancing from committee. Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17
SB 531 (2026) - died; floor-amendment route also failed. SB 531 would have prohibited new large-load data centers in counties that had a drought emergency declared within the preceding three years. The bill died, and a March 12 amendment offering similar language to HB 2433 did not appear in the enrolled, governor-signed HB 2433. Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17 Kansas Legislature floor amendment to HB 2433, 2026-03-12 Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17
No 2026 incentive repeal, statewide moratorium, or reporting mandate enacted. The session ended with SB 92 enacted and the main data-center water, zoning-eligibility, and drought-ban proposals dead; SB 98’s incentive remained intact, and no statewide data-center moratorium or new water/energy reporting law was enacted. Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17 Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17 Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17 Kansas Legislature, 2026-07-17
Post-session statewide debate. A statewide data-center moratorium became a 2026 gubernatorial-campaign issue even though none was enacted: four of ten candidates surveyed in June supported a temporary statewide pause. Kansas City Star, 2026-06-09
KCC large-load tariff still central. The KCC’s modified Evergy Large Load Power Service tariff requires large-load customers of 75 MW or more to make a minimum 12-year commitment after construction/ramp-up, pay minimum bills based on 80% of contracted demand, and face limits/penalties for load reductions. Kansas Corporation Commission, 2025-11-06

5) Notable projects (announced / under review / active)

Kansas City, Kansas / Red Wolf and PowerTransitions. Red Wolf closed on more than 150 acres in February for its proposed $12.6 billion, 600 MW campus, but the zoning lawsuit still stalled the project in June. PowerTransitions’ separate Quindaro proposal remained further along and contemplated redeveloping the former power-station site as a roughly $2.4 billion, 192-200 MW campus; neither should be treated as operational at the cutoff. Kansas City Business Journal, 2026-02-03 PowerTransitions, 2025-07-17 Kansas City Star, 2026-06-08
De Soto / Beale Infrastructure / Mount Sunflower - under construction and enlarged. Site work began in April. Beale increased the four-building plan from about 1.14 million to nearly 2.9 million square feet: phase one includes approximately 300,000- and 863,000-square-foot buildings targeted for 2028, followed by two approximately 864,000-square-foot buildings on an undisclosed schedule. The development value remains about $3.1 billion. KCUR, 2026-07-09
De Soto / Digital Realty - new two-gigawatt proposal. Digital Realty acquired about 1,440 acres at Astra Enterprise Park for approximately $475 million and entered an energy-service agreement for 600 MW by early 2028, rising to 2 GW at full delivery. The initial Astra North concept covers about 280 acres and nine buildings totaling roughly 3 million square feet; it remained in planning and development review at the cutoff. Digital Realty SEC exhibit, 2026-06-22 City of De Soto, 2026-07-17
Barber County / Project Helium. Google’s Project Helium remained exploratory rather than finally approved. County materials describe two anticipated 850,000-square-foot buildings scheduled for 2029 and 2030, and the county continued to post acoustic, drainage, tax/PILOT, and June 15 developer-update materials. Barber County, 2026-04-08 Barber County, 2026-07-17
Wellington / Cormor and Data Shelter. Wellington materials described a proposed AI data center campus by Cormor and Data Shelter in March 2026, with a waterless-cooling concept and an initial roughly 15 MW modular buildout that could scale higher. City of Wellington, 2026-03 Data Center Dynamics, 2026-03-17
Osawatomie / Project Catalyst. Project Catalyst remained a proposal, not an approved campus: the current concept is 283 acres, up to seven buildings and 3.3 million square feet, and 500+ MW, with a reported investment of up to $10 billion. By July 9, the developer had exercised an option over 116 city-owned acres, while an Evergy franchise agreement and KCC service-territory transfer still required later action. Project Catalyst, 2026-07-17 Kansas City Business Journal, 2026-05-29 Osawatomie City Council, 2026-07-09
Emporia / Flint Hills Digital Campus. Emporia annexed the proposed site, and the Planning Commission recommended the overlay text and site actions on June 30 after a prolonged public hearing. A City Commission decision on the proposed 554-acre, several-billion-dollar campus was rescheduled to July 22, after the cutoff; no final project approval had occurred by July 17. City of Emporia, 2026-07-01 KVOE, 2026-07-01
Finney County / Holcomb / Triple Oak Energy. Triple Oak discussed a 360-acre AI data-center concept as part of its broader Home Range energy-development plan, but no data-center application or approval was pending by the latest public record; only the separate solar and battery-storage special-use permits had been approved. Greater Garden City, 2026-06-03 KCUR, 2026-06-09
Pottawatomie County / Emmett / Beltline. Beltline’s land outreach remained preliminary; the county was still considering a Data Center Overlay District and had not approved a project by the cutoff. Pottawatomie County, 2026-06-23
Leavenworth County / Project Bluestem. Cloverleaf Infrastructure proposed an approximately 1,000-acre campus south of Tonganoxie with at least 600 MW of capacity; it remained subject to the county moratorium and later land-use review. Kansas City Star, 2026-07-02
Edgerton / DAMAC Heartland. DAMAC’s $860 million warehouse-conversion plan was denied by the Planning Commission on June 9, then moved into an appeal and revised-application track; the project therefore was neither finally approved nor definitively canceled at the cutoff. City of Edgerton, 2026-06-26 City of Edgerton, 2026-07-17
Parsons / HyperDataGrid. Parsons approved a purchase-option agreement for about 20 acres in Tolen Creek Industrial Park for a proposed 20 MW liquid-cooled data center. The option allowed due diligence; construction remained subject to separate approval. Data Center Dynamics, 2026-07-09
Iola / Vine Energy. Vine Energy was developing a smaller 3 MW, 3,600-square-foot data center on a former city industrial site, with operation reported as targeted for September 2026 and an option for another 10 acres. Data Center Dynamics, 2026-06-05
Gardner and Spring Hill cancellations. The Gardner and Spring Hill withdrawals show that not all Kansas pipeline projects are advancing despite the state incentive program. City of Gardner, 2026-05-06 Data Center Dynamics, 2026-03-04

Source URLs (for traceability)

Kansas SB 98: https://kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/sb98/
Kansas SB 92: https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/sb92/
Kansas SB 400: https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/sb400/
Kansas SB 526: https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/SB526/
Kansas SB 531: https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/SB531/
Kansas Commerce SB 98 program: https://www.kansascommerce.gov/program/business-incentives-and-services/sb-98-data-center-sales-tax-exemption/
K.S.A. 74-50,331: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch74/074_050_0331.html
K.S.A. 74-50,332: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch74/074_050_0332.html
K.S.A. 74-50,333: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch74/074_050_0333.html
K.S.A. 74-50,334: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch74/074_050_0334.html
K.S.A. 66-101j: https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch66/066_001_0001j.html
K.S.A. 12-741: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch12/012_007_0041.html
K.S.A. 12-757: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch12/012_007_0057.html
KCC large-load order release: https://www.kcc.ks.gov/news-11-6-25
Kansas DWR water-law basics: https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/dwr/water-appropriation/water-rights/water-law-basics
KDHE air-permit guidance: https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1082/Construction-Permit---Approval-Guidance-PDF
The Hutchinson Tribune, South Hutchinson moratorium: https://hutchtribune.com/2026/05/26/south-hutch-puts-halt-on-data-centers-bess-passes-moratorium/
The Hutchinson Tribune, Reno County data-center action: https://hutchtribune.com/2026/05/27/reno-county-mulls-action-on-data-centers/
Hutch Post, Reno County petition and opposition: https://hutchpost.com/posts/45dcf75e-2c03-4df7-b8d0-b890892bd22f