State Rep. Tricia Byrnes held a press conference on June 23 at the parking lot of Wentzville City Hall to discuss legislation intended to increase transparency measures for data center projects as well as announce a date on a public hearing in Jefferson City.

Byrnes was joined by residents and landowners at the 30-minute press conference. She said what’s happening in Missouri regarding the data projects deserve attention and leadership from the state.

“Counties all across our state are being approached with some of the largest and most complex development proposals in American history,” Byrnes said. “They involved MBAs, billions of dollars in infrastructure, long term utility commitments, significant land changes and potential impact that can last for decades. Yet, many local communities are being asked to evaluate these proposals without truly having independent subject matter experts, without adequate transparency and without meaningful opportunities for public participation.”

A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Jefferson City, giving Missourians an opportunity to voice their opinions on data centers. Byrnes said she reached out to Jonathan Patterson, the Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, and her request was granted to have an Intergovernmental Affairs Committee hearing. Byrnes is the chair of the committee.

“What I’ve already seen is when I launched this press conference, there were already state representatives doing press conferences on their own all across the state,” Byrnes said. “It just takes somebody to stand up and be brave and take action when the rest feels they can stand to, right? So if we have that hearing and we start to talk about these concerns, I guarantee you there will be cities and counties that won’t wait for the state to act and I welcome that. That’s why a hearing is so important.” 

The press conference was originally scheduled to be held at Graham Cave State Park in the morning before it was moved to St. Charles County. 

“I got a call from the state that said that I didn’t have the right to assemble and talk to the press on public property,” Byrnes said. “To me, that says everything.”

Two Montgomery County residents – Harry Cope and Tom Westhoff – spoke at the press conference. Cope is a farmer and is running for Presiding Commissioner, Westhoff is part of Preserve Montgomery County, which is a group that is against having data projects built in the county.

Cope said the biggest problem with data centers is the tax abatements that are being involved.

“I can’t see a reason why a two trillion dollar company gets a 75 percent tax abatement on personal property taxes,” he said. “Tax revenue has been the biggest reason everybody is talking about bringing a data center to the county. I don’t want a data center there. We have two of them. I don’t know if we can stop them. I doubt that we can.”

Westhoff said there are many risks that are associated with data centers, such as water contamination and noise pollution.

‘All of this leads to the fact that these new data centers are new, large and essentially unregulated,” Westhoff said. “If we are to live with data centers, we need more regulations and more protection from the citizens.”

Byrnes outlined provisions of the proposed Missouri Data Center Community Accountability Act at the press conference. They include legislative findings, an independent feasibility study, noise and operational standards and water permit requirements.

Byrnes said it is important to have Missouri residents express their thoughts on data centers at the hearing this fall.

“I want everyone to understand that I do want Missouri to win,” she said.