Why this score?
Four weighted factors drive the McDonald County risk score. Methodology is fully documented — each input is public data or a reasoned proxy.
Served by Liberty Utilities. Regional utility with moderate grid capacity.
Water source: Elk River / Indian Creek. Moderate water availability. Closed-loop or air-cooled systems likely required for hyperscale.
Moderate availability of large parcels.
No active projects nearby. Lower immediate pressure, but conditions can change quickly with a single developer announcement.
Water infrastructure
McDonald County's primary water source is Elk River / Indian Creek.
Any hyperscale data center in McDonald County would need a Missouri DNR permit for water withdrawal and discharge. A single hyperscale data center using evaporative cooling can require 1–5 million gallons per day — a volume that would represent a significant fraction of the county's total water usage. Closed-loop and air-cooled designs reduce that draw at higher capital cost. Meta's Kansas City facility can use up to 9.5 million gallons daily — more than 95,000 average Missouri households.
Electric infrastructure
McDonald County is served by Liberty Utilities (formerly Empire District Electric), the primary electric provider for southwest Missouri including the Springfield and Joplin metros.
Liberty operates the La Russell Energy Center in eastern Jasper County, which provides the transmission infrastructure that makes the region attractive for hyperscale development. Geronimo Power (Minnesota) is planning a data center and solar/battery park near the La Russell facility. Liberty's service territory covers much of the Ozarks region, where terrain and distributed population create different grid constraints than the flat Kansas City metro served by Evergy.
Under Missouri's SB 4, data centers above 75 MW must pay premium utility rates and fund grid upgrades.
State legislative context
Missouri's 2026 legislative session directly affects McDonald County, regardless of whether a project is currently proposed here.
HJR 173 & 174 proposes eliminating Missouri's income tax and replacing it with expanded sales taxes on services — while data centers continue to receive a sales tax exemption on construction materials, equipment, and utilities for up to 15 years. According to the Missouri Budget Project, 80% of Missourians would face a net tax increase.
At the local level, developers negotiate Chapter 100 industrial revenue bonds that exempt them from real and personal property taxes. Under SB 4, data centers above 75 MW must pay premium utility rates. Many rural Missouri counties have no planning and zoning laws, meaning a data center can be proposed with no public hearing, no zoning review, and no county oversight.
No active data center in McDonald County — yet.
Festus voters ousted every council member who approved a $6B data center. Webster County residents started a petition in days. What they did, you can do — but only if you're ready before the proposal lands.
Enter your address and pick your concerns. We write a personalized opposition letter citing state statutes and project data, then email it directly to every commissioner in your county on your behalf. You get a full copy. 60 seconds.
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