Americans Fighting Data Centers Face Lawsuits From Local Communities
Summary
Three cities in Kansas—Edgerton, El Dorado, and Emporia—have sued residents who started petitions to limit or ban large data centers because of concerns about water and electricity use. The cities say the petitions are legally wrong, while residents say voters should have the right to decide local rules through petitions.Key Facts
- Residents in three Kansas cities oppose large data centers due to worries about their impact on water and electricity.
- Kansas law allows citizens to propose local rules by collecting enough signatures on a petition.
- Edgerton, El Dorado, and Emporia filed lawsuits to stop these petitions from moving forward.
- The cities argue the petitions misstate facts about city services and unfairly target data centers.
- Edgerton does not provide water to the site of a proposed data center and does not control electricity there.
- The petitions seek rules that would limit water use by data centers, but cities argue similar industrial projects would not face the same limits.
- Edgerton’s lawsuit specifically names two residents and a local group who organized the petition.
- Legal disputes focus on whether citizens have the right to directly approve or reject local ordinances through petitions.
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