To the Editor,

Last week, every household in Warren County received the Record’s total market coverage edition. That means thousands of families are now learning more about the proposed data center project and Ameren’s role in building out massive new infrastructure across our community.

It’s important that readers understand this: the costs of these projects don’t fall equally. PSC staff have already warned that a single 100 MW data center could push an additional $22 million a year in costs onto existing Ameren customers. Warren County is being targeted for 200–250 MW or more, meaning our exposure is even higher. Families already saw bills jump by $50–$100 this summer after Ameren’s latest rate hike — those increases were not theoretical; they hit our wallets today.

What Ameren is proposing in the PSC’s “Large Load Customer” tariff case (ET-2025-0184) doesn’t fix that. It doesn’t create a true separate rate class where big users pay their own way. Instead, it just writes special rules for them — minimum contracts, credit requirements and a two-year exit notice — while keeping them lumped into the same overall class as everyone else. That means the structural risk of costs flowing back onto ordinary ratepayers still remains. We’ve yet to see any equity in practice when it comes to utility development tied to data centers.

While developers promise tax revenue and jobs, those benefits are broad and uncertain, while the risks are immediate and concentrated. Families who live nearest to the facility will bear the brunt of noise, water use, and traffic impacts. And all of us, whether close or not, will be stuck paying for the massive infrastructure upgrades that make these projects possible.

Transparency is non-negotiable within journalism. If this project is truly good for Warren County, then Ameren and city leaders should welcome detailed impact studies, enforceable ordinances and strong public hearings before anything moves forward. Developers — not ratepayers — should bear the costs of substations, water lines, and transmission upgrades. As the guardians and gatekeepers of transparency, accountability and truthful action, it is your place to instigate a conversation that runs through both sides of the aisle in order for the reader to make their own conclusion based upon all the facts.

We cannot afford to “sell our souls for revenue.” We cannot afford to lose out on protections or income if this project proceeds. If this project proceeds, it must be on our terms, with protections for residents built into the process from the start. Otherwise, Warren County will learn the hard way what communities in Virginia, Texas and Iowa already know: unchecked data center growth means rising costs and declining quality of life.