The data center fight in Leavenworth County, Kansas
As of September 27, 2026, Leavenworth County, Kansas had a data center moratorium whose documented term has run out (action taken May 13, 2026; it ended 2026-08-11).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
90-day moratorium passed 4-1 re: Project Bluestem (1,000-acre hyperscale DC near Tonganoxie). Extension failed 3-2 on Aug 5. Moratorium expired ~Aug 11. Board voted 4-1 on Aug 13 to revisit a hold before new commission in January but did not formally re-enact. Community group retained attorney for legal fight.
SourceNews
read 2026-09-11
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
The project on the table
Project Bluestem — In review
Operator: Cloverleaf Infrastructure · Owner: Cloverleaf Infrastructure · Size: 600 MW · Acres: 1,000
Cloverleaf Infrastructure proposes Project Bluestem, a 600 MW hyperscale data center on approximately 1,000 acres of former Tailgate Ranch land south of Tonganoxie. The Leavenworth County Commission passed a 90-day moratorium on data center applications in May 2026, which expired in August. On August 5, commissioners voted 3-2 against extending the moratorium. On August 13, officials reversed course and directed planning and zoning to delay regulation recommendations until after a joint work session before the September meeting. No formal application has been submitted.
Next: An application is in the record. Ask the planning office for the next hearing date and request formal notice.
Latest in the record
- 2026-08-14 — About 100 protesters organized by the Tongie Data Center WatchDog Group packed the Leavenworth County planning meeting, where the planning commission voted 8-1 to revisit data center regulations. · source
- 2026-08-13 — Officials reverse course, direct P&Z to delay recommendations until joint work session in September. · source
- 2026-08-05 — Commission votes 3-2 against extending moratorium; moratorium expires. · source
- 2026-06-09 — Project Bluestem representatives held an open house at 304 Venue in Tonganoxie to address resident concerns about the proposed data center. · source
- 2026-05-19 — The Tongie Data Center Watch Dog Group planned to present a petition to the Tonganoxie City Council at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 19, seeking an 18-month moratorium on data center development. · source
- 2026-05-01 — Leavenworth County Commission passes 90-day moratorium on data center applications. · source
Full dated timeline on the project tracker.
Source. Read 2026-08-14.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Kansas.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Kansas briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in Kansas
- Lawrence (19 mi) — Enactedexpires 2028-07-14
- Topeka (36 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-07-14
- Shawnee County (40 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-02-17
- Miami County (45 mi) — Enactedfixed term, end date not recorded
- Pottawatomie County (71 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
- Riley County (82 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-11-12
- Lyon County (83 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-01-22
- Emporia (83 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
All 19 tracked actions in Kansas are on the state page.
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.