Graded Light and tightening. 15 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
Evergy's plan, approved 6 Nov 2025, gives 75 MW loads a five-year ramp and makes them fund their own transmission upgrades; no study fee or own-power rule.
Evergy's 6 Nov 2025 large-load plan requires 12 years of service and a minimum bill on 80% of contracted demand above 75 MW.
About 20 local pauses (tracker 22 Oct 2026) include Sedgwick County into Dec 2026, Topeka, Shawnee County and Lawrence; Johnson County cities keep approving.
SB 98, effective 1 July 2025, gives a 20-year sales tax exemption at $250 million and 20 jobs with water conservation and utility purchase terms; intact.
No water, air permit or disclosure rule in force; SB 531's drought-county ban failed in 2026.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Kansas enacted a 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers investing $250 million or more in 2025 (SB 98), with water conservation terms and a requirement to buy power from the local utility for 10 years. The Kansas Corporation Commission approved Evergy's large-load rate plan in November 2025 for loads over 75 MW. No further data center law passed in 2026. Local resistance is the main brake: a tracker updated 22 October 2026 lists about 20 Kansas local moratoria or bans, Sedgwick County, around Wichita, has extended its data center moratorium three times and it now runs into December 2026, Saline County has a three-year moratorium, Topeka and Lawrence have paused for one and two years, and southern Johnson County cities are fighting over individual projects. The governor nominees split on SB 98: Democrat Cindy Holscher calls for a pause on new data centers and Republican Ty Masterson defends the law with a ratepayer protection pledge.
The 3 November 2026 election picks a new governor, with Holscher backing a pause and Masterson proposing that developers pay full electricity costs and that the Corporation Commission confirm cost coverage in rate cases; repeal or tightening of SB 98, a moratorium and siting limits are likely to be filed for the 2027 session either way. Voters in El Dorado decide a ten-year ban on high-impact data centers and voters in Emporia a prohibition on data centers above 10 MW or 100,000 gallons a day on the same ballot, with legal questions over the Emporia measure still pending. Sedgwick County is due to adopt data center regulations or extend its moratorium again in December 2026, with a progress check on 2 December, and Shawnee County bars final action on applications until 17 February 2027. Edgerton completed city approvals for the DAMAC project on 24 September 2026, and opponents have discussed litigation and a petition requiring voter approval of data center projects.
No statewide moratorium, but 7 local pauses are in force as of 23 October 2026, in Geary County, Lawrence, Saline County, Sedgwick County, Shawnee County, Statewide, local governments and elsewhere. Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Kansas is graded Light, which means incentives in place and few new obligations. 2025 tax break stands; some 20 local moratoria and a governor's race fight. The outlook above says what is pending.
Kansas sits in SPP. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
No. Kansas's data center incentives were not pulled back in 2025 or 2026 as of 23 October 2026, though the items below show what is pending.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Kansas scores grid connection 2, power rates 3, siting and land use 3, tax treatment 2, permits and water 1, a mean of 2.2. The most regulated line is siting and land use: About 20 local pauses (tracker 22 Oct 2026) include Sedgwick County into Dec 2026, Topeka, Shawnee County and Lawrence; Johnson County cities keep approving.
15 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
El Dorado's commission adopted a moratorium on high-impact data centers and Tier 2 and 3 battery storage through 30 November 2026 on 13 July 2026 while contesting a citizen petition in court; voters in El Dorado will decide a ten-year ban and voters in Emporia a prohibition on data centers with peak load above 10 MW or water draw above 100,000 gallons a day. Legal questions over the Emporia measure remain pending.
Source: multistate.usA national tracker updated 22 October 2026 lists roughly 20 Kansas local restrictions, including McPherson County's ban outside city limits (31 August 2026), Franklin County through 31 December 2028, Harvey County through 2028, Miami and Dickinson counties for three years, Marion County to 1 June 2027, Lyon County to 22 January 2027, Riley County to 12 November 2026, Kingman County for 18 months, and Marysville, Bourbon County and South Hutchinson for about a year. Leavenworth County's 90-day pause expired in August after an extension failed.
Source: programs.comBefore the 4 August 2026 primary several of ten candidates backed a statewide moratorium or repeal of the SB 98 tax break. The nominees are now Democrat Cindy Holscher, who voted for SB 98 but now calls for a pause on new data centers until guardrails on water, bills and jobs are in place, and Republican Senate President Ty Masterson, who defends SB 98 and proposes a Kansas Ratepayer Protection Pledge requiring developers to pay full electricity costs, barring eminent domain for data centers and having the Corporation Commission confirm cost coverage in rate cases. The election is 3 November 2026.
Source: hppr.orgOn 16 July 2026 the City Council unanimously overrode the planning commission's June denial of DAMAC Digital's $860 million data center at Logistics Park Kansas City. The final plat was then approved by the Planning Commission on 8 September and by the City Council on 24 September 2026, completing city approvals. Opponents have discussed litigation and a petition requiring voter approval of data center projects.
Source: edgertonks.orgThe County Commission first halted building and conditional use permits for data centers for 90 days in January 2026, then extended the pause in March and again in May. In a unanimous vote reported on 3 September 2026 it extended the moratorium a third time because the planning commission had not finished proposed regulations. The report gives the new end date as both 11 December and 24 December, with a progress check on 2 December.
Source: foxkansas.comCommissioners voted 2 to 1 on 13 August 2026 that no final action may be taken on new data center applications before 17 February 2027 while the county hires engineers to study impacts. Applications, including a resubmission by Compass Datacenters, may still be filed.
Source: wibw.comThe City Council voted on 14 July 2026 for a 12-month moratorium pausing any data center consideration in the city while it studies how to govern them.
Source: wibw.comThe City Commission unanimously approved a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers on 14 July 2026, doubling the one year originally proposed, with an exception process for applications.
Source: lawrencekstimes.comCommissioners voted unanimously on 22 June 2026 for a one-year moratorium in unincorporated areas covering data centers, wind, solar, battery storage and crypto mining; already permitted projects are exempt.
Source: ksnt.comEdgerton's council voted 3 to 2 in June 2026 against a six-month pause on data center applications, and Gardner turned down a similar request earlier that month. De Soto, with at least two proposals, was studying noise and setback rules instead.
Source: govtech.comThe County Commission voted 4 to 0 on 17 March 2026 to bar construction of data centers, nuclear power plants and hydrogen-based energy facilities in unincorporated areas for three years, to about March 2029; commissioners can shorten or extend it. Some wanted to wait until after the next election so voters could weigh in.
Source: ksn.comWould have barred new large-load data centers in any county with a drought emergency declared in the previous three years. Introduced in the 2026 session and not enacted.
Source: kslegislature.govWould have made the SB 98 exemption available only on land zoned industrial or manufacturing, or unzoned, as of 1 July 2025. Introduced in the 2026 session and not enacted.
Source: kslegislature.govApproved by the Kansas Corporation Commission on 6 November 2025 as a settlement: new loads over 75 MW get up to five years to ramp up, must then take service for at least 12 years, pay a minimum based on 80% of contracted demand and fund their own transmission upgrades. Staff estimated these customers pay 7% to 10% more than existing industrial customers.
Source: utilitydive.comSigned 24 April 2025, effective 1 July 2025. Requires $250 million of investment within five years and 20 jobs; the firm must commit to water conservation and to buying power from the local utility for 10 years.
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