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Hump Day Data Center Recap: Wed Sep 30, 2026

By Singularity Farmer · Sep 30, 2026 · Covers Sep 23–30, 2026 · Meeting times are Central unless noted

Top stories

1. De Soto, KS: Digital Realty TIF public hearing is now on the calendar — Nov 19.
   • Oct 1 City Council agenda (posted Sep 29) includes Item 4d: Resolution 2104, which schedules the public hearing on Digital Realty TIF Project Plan 3 for Thursday, Nov 19, 2026. Staff memo says council should not debate the merits until that hearing.
   • Same night (Oct 1): joint PC/Council work session before council; council starts 7:30 PM (not 7:00). Call to Public is on the agenda.
   • Watch out: Item 4e IRB hearing that night is for AA Land DEVCO (residential duplexes/6-plexes on 21 acres along 95th St; up to $40M IRBs + 75% tax abatement) — not Digital Realty.
   • Also on Oct 1: Item 4a Mt Sunflower / Beale Supplement #2 — closed-loop cooling cuts peak water demand from 6.0 MGD to 300,000 gal/day and sewer from 1.86 MGD to 50,000 gal/day; Beale contributions include $9.44M raw-water work and a $20M Community Betterment Fund.
   • Planning Commission already approved the Digital Realty phase-1 site plan 5-2 on Sep 22; campus scaled to ~1.5M sq ft; TIF Plan 3 lists ~$7.52B total development cost and ~$358.7M TIF revenue over 20 years. Ban petition still ~278 of ≥620 signatures. (City AgendaCenter / Oct 1 packet; KC Star; KCBJ)
2. Ottawa, KS ends its Lightfield Energy land deal, 5-0 (Sep 23). No development agreement or incentive application ever arrived. The Nov 3 ban on data centers over 25 MW stays on the ballot; court hearing on validity is Oct 20. (KSHB)
3. Edgerton, KS: council approves the DAMAC final plat (Sep 24). The $860M reuse of an existing Logistics Park building keeps moving while the ban-petition lawsuit remains unresolved.
4. Moratorium wave (this week’s additions in bold):
   • Palm Beach County, FL passed a 1-year hyperscale moratorium, 6-0 (Sep 24).
   • Prince William County, VA ended by-right data centers; overlay drops from ~9,700 to ~3,650 acres (Sep 22).
   • Pima County, AZ passed a 120-day pause that exempts Project Blue (Sep 22).
   • Milwaukee’s Plan Commission advanced a 1-year moratorium (Sep 28).
   • Mercer County, KY rejected its data center zoning ordinance (Sep 28).
   • Mesa County, CO approved a 12-month freeze on data-center land-use applications in unincorporated areas, effective immediately (Sep 29). No projects currently in the works. (Grand Junction Daily Sentinel)
   • Charlotte set an Oct 12 hearing on an 11-month extension of its moratorium (through Oct 11, 2027). (Charlotte Business Journal)
   • Davidson County, NC set an Oct 26 hearing on a proposed 4-month moratorium (4-2). (WFMY)
   • Cleveland’s third/final hearing is Oct 7, 6–8 PM ET at Gunning Rec; permit freeze expires Oct 20. (Cleveland19)
5. Ballot and courts:
   • Montana Supreme Court put Butte’s voter-approval initiative on the ballot (Sep 22), then reversed because ballots had already been mailed (Sep 24).
   • MultiState counts 28 localities in 6 states for Nov 3 (Sep 24). Ballotpedia lists 39 measures in 8 states.
   • Weld County, CO: citizens group collecting signatures for a referendum on the recently approved GlobalAI facility plus an initiative requiring voter approval for future data centers/expansions. (BizWest, Sep 29; article paywalled beyond lede)
   • El Dorado, KS disclosed a Jan 2026 NDA with Beltline Energy (Sep 25).
   • Effingham, GA OpenAI “Project Camellia” (3.2 GW, $20B+) faces an Open Meetings suit (Sep 21) and a zoning suit.
   • Secondary/roundup only this week: LA County temporary ban in unincorporated areas; Texas state environmental permit-review pause (Milldam Zoning In, Sep 25 — need primary docs).

New or newly surfaced proposals

• Brighton, CO: a 2.5M sq ft, 8-building campus in northeast Brighton, found through an open-records request. Officials floated a 90-day moratorium (Denver7, Signal News, Sep 24–27).
• Bow, NH: Granite Shore Power’s 350 MW data center viability study at Merrimack Station met resident opposition (Sep 23).
• Grady County, OK: Aligned (~855 acres, gas generation plus a substation) holds a public meeting Oct 6. The county declined a planning-commission ballot question (Sep 28).
• Kearney, NE: Project Horizon (368 MW full build) was approved with stricter rules (Sep 8). Positive-signal comp for rural plains towns.
• Cleveland, OH: Lakeland Equity Group proposing ~300,000 sq ft / 150 MW hyperscale on East 55th (old Morabito site) while city shapes rules. (Cleveland19)
• Weld County, CO: GlobalAI Use-by-Special-Review approved (Sep 9, secondary tracker); referendum petition now circulating. (BizWest / Data Center Census)

Ballot measures to watch (Nov 3)

• Kansas:
  • Emporia: ban on “high impact” data centers (over 10 MW or over 100k gal/day). Legal effect pending in court.
  • Ottawa: ban on data centers over 25 MW; court hearing Oct 20.
  • El Dorado: 10-year ban on data centers plus battery storage.
• Ohio (20): includes Wilmington ×4 rezoning referendums, Ashville EdgeConneX term sheet, Grove City Issue 28, Trenton Issue 17.
• Pro-development questions: Illinois advisory questions in Madison County townships and Joliet Township; Monroeville OH; Boulder City NV Question 1.
• Already decided: all 4 went against development (Port Washington, Monterey Park, Augusta Twp, Wrightstown).
• Petition stage (not yet on Nov 3): Weld County CO referendum/initiative on GlobalAI + future voter approval; De Soto Neighbors United ban petition (~278 / ≥620).

Upcoming meetings (Kansas first)