Nodaway County Commissioners hold meeting with Scale Microgrids about proposed data center

MARYVILLE, Mo. (KQTV) -- Residents of Nodaway County got their first public look this week at the proposed White Cloud Acres project, a $6.3 billion artificial intelligence data center and co-located natural gas power plant planned for a site along US Highway 71, approximately eight miles south of Maryville.

The developer, Scale Microgrids (formerly ReLoad Energy), hosted an open house to present the project, but many attendees left frustrated with the format and skeptical of the company's environmental and economic promises.

Dan Scheffler, Vice President of Development for Scale Microgrids, told attendees that the company has been developing the project for about nine months and is now comfortable with the design.

He explained that while no hyperscale tenant has been announced, the facility is being targeted for artificial intelligence applications.

The project includes a 600-megawatt natural gas-fired generation facility that would be co-located with the data center to provide dedicated power.

According to project documents, the total investment represents $6.3 billion over a 35-year useful life, generating an estimated $1.1 billion in tax liability for Nodaway County, with roughly $900 million directed to the South Nodaway School District.

On the issue of water usage, which emerged as a primary concern among residents, Scheffler described a closed-loop cooling system requiring an initial fill of 1.5 million gallons, or slightly more than two Olympic-sized pools.

He stated that every three years, 30% of that water would be drained and hauled to an industrial wastewater facility in accordance with DNR and EPA regulations.

Daily domestic water use for toilets and similar purposes would be limited to 12,000 gallons per day.

Scheffler added that the company plans to use reclaimed water from Maryville's treatment plant, treating it on-site with a reverse osmosis system.

However, a position paper from Public Water Supply District #1 of Nodaway County indicates that multiple water supply options remain under review, including expansion from Maryville, piggybacking on an existing Evergy water line, using treated wastewater discharge from the 102 River, or allowing the user to draw directly from the river.

The paper notes that groundwater is not considered feasible due to the alluvium in the area being unsuited to the requested volume.

The developer has requested approximately 100,000 gallons per day total, including both domestic and industrial use.

Regarding potential rate impacts on existing utility customers, Scheffler stated that Evergy has a large load tariff that protects ratepayers, and that the co-located natural gas generation would service the data center competitively, resulting in no rate increases for existing customers.

An Evergy document included in the project materials confirms that the utility's Large Load Power Service tariff applies to new customers needing more than 75 megawatts and includes protections such as requiring large loads to pay for their own infrastructure, signing long-term contracts, and paying minimum monthly bills.

The document states that the LLPS rate is expected to be higher than other industrial rates and that the premium is applied to existing customer bills to help reduce future rate increases.

On environmental and health impacts, Scheffler said the company retained an environmental consultant and flew the project site by helicopter to check for protected species, finding none.

He stated that the project is not impacting wetlands or critical habitat, and the closest house to the project is 2,220 feet away, with all other residences beyond half a mile.

Sound mitigation would include parapets to cover chillers and variable-speed fans that run less hard in cooler weather.

However, resident Billy Mires, a retired military veteran and rancher, noted that the sound study did not include the adjacent natural gas power generation source.

"That's a lot of DBs from two sources within a mile of each other," he said.

Mires also expressed frustration with what he sees as a lack of state regulation for data centers compared to agricultural operations. "I have state regulations I have to follow to be a rancher," he said. "These guys have none."

Residents also questioned the format of the open house itself.

Dakota Marti, a Buchanan County resident who attended the meeting, described the event as "chaotic," with consultants stationed at posters rather than a town hall format where questions and answers could be heard by all attendees.

"It was extremely shocking and surprising to come in here and see just what looks like chaos," Marty said.

He added that he does not believe the economic benefits will be significant, noting that a data center would be manned by very few people.

"All it's going to do is suck heat and suck water," he said.

Scheffler defended the open house format, stating that the goal was to make the company available to the community and answer questions based on the base case of the project.

He noted that an operational data center with similar technology exists roughly an hour and a half away near Kansas City and has been running since August 2025, suggesting that residents could visit it to see for themselves that responsibly placed data centers have no impact on protected species or the environment.

Project documents project 445 local construction jobs and approximately 591 ongoing local jobs once the facility is operational, with total local earnings during construction estimated at $38.2 million and annual long-term earnings at $33.6 million.

A fact sheet from the developer notes that newer data centers are moving toward closed-loop cooling and that some companies, such as Meta, have committed to being water positive by 2030.

According to the Public Water Supply District position paper, a feasibility study funded by the developer and conducted by the consulting firm Lamp-Rynearson is complete in draft form and expected to be finalized by mid-June.

The district's board will decide on a water supply course of action by the third quarter of 2026, with permitting anticipated by the second quarter of 2027 and construction beginning in the fourth quarter of 2027. The project is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2028.

More on White Cloud Acres can be found on their website here.