DATA CENTERS IN KANSAS: MYTHS VS FACTS

In order for Kansas to move forward, create jobs, grow our economy, and prepare our state for the future, we are going to have to build data centers. 

Working Kansas Alliance supports the construction of smart data centers, delivering high quality services to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.

What we do now determines the economic future for Kansas.

So Working Kansas Alliance is calling for our communities to come together and engage in open, transparent conversations about what is best for all of us in Kansas.

We are also calling on the critics to do more homework and tone down the anti-data center rhetoric.

Below, you will find a list of myths that are being spread about data centers.

We need to cut through the B.S. and look at the facts.

MYTHS VS FACTS

Myth: A data center will drain Kansas’s water. 

Fact: Data center cooling runs on a closed loop that reuses the same water over and over. The only city water it uses is everyday building needs, about what two average households use in a year. 

Myth: The cooling liquid is full of “forever chemicals.” 

Fact: Data center coolant has no PFAS (forever chemicals). It’s about a quarter glycol and three-quarters water, just like your car radiator. It’s the same kind of stuff that’s been used safely in buildings, vehicles and appliances for decades. Sealed in a loop, recycled by licensed handlers and does not enter potable or household water supplies. 

Myth: This project will push up my electric bill. 

Fact: Data centers pay for their own power hookup, the substations and lines, so that cost doesn’t fall on ratepayers. And in a grid emergency they can pull off the public grid so homes come first.

Myth: The backup generators are dirty diesel running around the clock. 

Fact: They only run for emergencies and testing, not everyday power. Every unit is permitted by the state.

Myth: Data centers are just a few security jobs. 

Fact: Each building supports 20 to 30 permanent operations jobs paying well above the local average. Multi-year construction brings around 1,500 – 1,700 workers on site, hired locally wherever possible. And ongoing skilled technical trades are required to service and upgrade the equipment over the life of the campus.

Myth: Kansas residents don’t share in the benefits of data centers.

Fact: Data center companies will pay full property taxes and when the project is completed the taxes paid by the facility will help to fund emergency services and much more across the state.