KC residents fear data centers could drive up bills. Why Evergy says not to worry
When David Hickok first moved to the Smithville area north of Kansas City over 10 years ago, he never would have guessed an influx of massive data centers nearby would someday be the reason he considered leaving for good.
But after Meta, the parent company of Facebook, opened the doors to its massive data center at the intersection of Interstate 435 and U.S. 169, Hickok began worrying about how it would impact his life — and specifically, his electricity bill.
“If we’re going to sell, we’re leaving here. We’re getting out of Clay County. We’re gone,” said Hickok, who is retired from the military.
Now, as Google continues construction of its own 500-acre, $1 billion data center located directly across the highway from Meta’s, and another $100 billion data center dubbed Project Kestrel begins construction in the area, Hickok said he worries he and his neighbors could take on the brunt of the costs of providing energy to such big projects.
And he’s not alone. Dozens of residents submitted testimony to the Kansas City Council last month worried about their bills and other potential side effects from data centers using so many resources to operate.
But local utility company officials say Northland residents don’t need to worry.
Evergy, which provides power to much of the Kansas City metro and surrounding area, said customers’ rates have not, and likely will not, go up directly because of the data center boom. The company says it’s taken enough steps to ensure that the facilities won’t cause regular customers to pay more.
Hickok told The Star he’s noticed his monthly energy bill has increased from $170 to around $194 a month over the past few months, but Evergy officials said that change isn’t because of the Meta data center.
Courtney Lewis, the senior communications manager for Evergy, said that since Meta pays for its own energy use and Evergy hasn’t needed to build any new infrastructure to provide that energy, the data center hasn’t affected the rate other customers pay.
“Our current large customers, of which Meta is included, already pay the direct costs of their energy. They are paying their fair share and, like all customers, they contribute to the shared costs of the overall energy grid that serves all customers,” Lewis told The Star.
If anything, major energy users could help drive down what other customers pay, she said.
“Large customers are beneficial to the grid because they are able to contribute more to the fixed costs of the system than residential customers, thus putting downward pressure on residential rates,” Lewis said.
Typically, rate increases are due to maintenance, repairs or upgrades. The last time rates went up for the Missouri West coverage area, which includes the Meta data center and Smithville, was in January 2025. That was after the Missouri Public Service Commission approved a rate increase to cover costs related to replacing aging infrastructure, preparing for severe weather and adding technology to improve performance, according to Evergy.
The new plan increased rates by about 7%, or roughly $8 a month for the average customer. That went into effect months before the Meta data center opened in August 2025.
Evergy recently announced a new rate request for the Missouri Metro service area, which covers much of the Kansas City metro, last month. However, the company said that request is also “not driven by new data centers choosing to locate in the Kansas City region.”
A special rate for big data centers
Last fall, the Missouri Public Service Commission, the Kansas Corporation Commission and Evergy approved a plan intended to protect residents’ rates and make sure huge data centers — often called hyperscale — “pay their fair share.”
Based on that agreement, Evergy implemented what it calls a Large Load Power Service Tariff, which creates a new rate requirement for hyperscale data centers and large manufacturers that use 75 megawatts of energy or more.
Those under this plan will in some cases pay up to 20% more than other large business customers, which will cover the costs of providing energy to the data centers.
The new plan also requires large load customers to pay for any infrastructure upgrades needed solely to serve their facilities.
“As large hyperscale data centers look to move and build in our service area, Evergy would have to build new infrastructure to serve them,” Lewis said.
Powering a facility that uses 75 megawatts is equivalent to powering about 10,000 homes, Lewis said. The huge data center that recently received incentives to build in Independence would operate with up to 800 megawatts of power. That will be fueled by energy from Independence Power & Light, so it’s not subject to the same requirements as Evergy customers.
Meta is not on this new large rate plan because it does not exceed the 75 megawatt threshold, Lewis said. There are currently no online customers on this plan yet.
Persistent skepticism
The special plan designed specifically to regulate the toll of hyperscale data centers on local power sources comes as many residents feel wary and unsure about the facilities popping up near them.
Kathy Gates, a Northland resident and local business owner, said she worries about the “strain these facilities place on our city’s infrastructure” and their “heavy demand for power and water.”
In a recent letter to Kansas City’s Neighborhoods Planning and Development Committee, Gates suggested the city implement a stronger zoning code that includes required environmental studies, council-approved special use permits and limitations on how close data centers can be to homes.
“If data center construction moves ahead without these guardrails, residents will be the ones absorbing the cost through higher utility bills, strained resources and increased pollution,” she said.
Susanna Bartee, a fellow Northland resident, agreed, echoing many of the same arguments as Gates. Bartee and her husband, Shane, who own Blue Bridge Realty, a Platte City real estate firm, worry how the continued development of data centers in the area will impact the community.
“As small business owners and parents of six children, we are fully committed to the growth of Platte County. However, we are deeply concerned about the increased utility rates and consumption of water and resources to support these data centers,” Bartee wrote in a letter to the city.
Lewis told The Star that Kansas Citians’ fear may be coming from what people are hearing about data centers in other places, but that “the national narrative of data centers driving up costs is not happening for Evergy customers.”
