Why this score?
Four weighted factors drive the Worth County risk score. Methodology is fully documented — each input is public data or a reasoned proxy.
Served by Evergy. Strong grid capacity from KC metro infrastructure.
Water source: Grand River. Moderate water availability. Closed-loop or air-cooled systems likely required for hyperscale.
Abundant large parcels available. Rural setting with significant open farmland.
Adjacent to Nodaway County, which has active projects. Cluster development is the strongest predictor of where developers look next.
Water infrastructure
Worth County's primary water source is Grand River.
Any hyperscale data center in Worth 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
Worth County is served by Evergy, the dominant utility in the Kansas City metro and northwest Missouri — and the utility that powers every existing data center in the KC region.
Evergy's Missouri service territory includes 10,200 miles of transmission lines and nearly 875 substations. The Missouri Public Service Commission approved Evergy's Large Load Power Service Plan in November 2025, creating a rate structure specifically designed for data centers that ensures large-load customers pay their full share of infrastructure and generation costs. Evergy is building a 440-megawatt natural gas plant (Mullin Creek #1) in Nodaway County at the existing Mullin Creek Substation — part of a $2.75 billion generation expansion that includes two Kansas gas plants and two solar projects, adding ~2,000 MW to the grid by 2030.
Under Missouri's SB 4, data centers above 75 MW must pay premium utility rates and fund grid upgrades. However, SB 4 also allows utilities to charge customers for new power plant costs before construction is complete — meaning residential ratepayers may bear financing costs for generation built primarily to serve data centers.
State legislative context
Missouri's 2026 legislative session directly affects Worth 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 Worth 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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