10 hours ago
New data center coming to southeast Kansas
PITTSBURG, Kan. — A new data center coming to southeast Kansas will generate sales tax and franchise fees in exchange for the big energy it will take to operate.
'Last several months have been spent prepping the site because, again, it takes a lot of electricity,' said Blake Benson, Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce President.
Wildcat Data Infrastructure, a Texas company, is building the first data storage facility in the Industrial park near the Pittsburg Airport
'Data centers, are facilities that housed much data storage. They house computer applications. And they're becoming more and more necessary,' said Benson.
Crawford County seeks community input for new growth plan
New data center coming to southeast Kansas
PSU's Center for Reading hosting educational summer camp for kids
KDOT hosting Hwy 69 improvement meetings this week for Crawford County resident input
Southeast Kansas sheriff quips, 'We saved the 4th of July'
The idea was proposed to the City Commission back in late January.
Now, the company and the city are working with Evergy to expand the electrical infrastructure at the site on 10 acres of land.
'Data centers are becoming more and more attractive economic development projects for communities like Pittsburg because we really as far as city utilities are infrastructure. They didn't need much. They needed a lot of electricity,' said Benson.
While a significant amount of energy is being used, it will also generate sales tax and franchise fees for the city.
'It'll generate about $10,000 a month in sales tax on that electricity and also a franchise fee that the city collects on electricity. That'll be about another 10,000. So all in all, it will generate about $20,000 a month,' said Benson.
Phase I of the project will include several modular buildings, that are not yet on site. 10 megawatts of energy is enough to power 2,000 homes a day.
As for phase 2 of the project…
'Then the second phase calls for that to go to a 50 megawatt project. And when that happens, most likely they'll combine it into one facility,' said Benson.
Benson says phase I of the project should be complete by the end of Summer.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
