Did you see the news report on AI Data Centers? (Watch the attached report from Mark Maxwell.)

 

In the video, Governor Mike Kehoe declares that Missouri is “open for AI,” even as opposition to massive data centers continues to grow. The report cites a recent Gallup finding that roughly seven in ten Americans would oppose a data center being built in their own community.
 

Those concerns are not abstract. Residents are asking serious questions about:

• Electricity demand and higher utility costs

• Water consumption

• Noise and light pollution

• Strain on roads and infrastructure

• Property rights and farmland

• The loss of local control
   

Across Missouri, communities are pushing back against projects they believe have advanced with too little transparency and too little opportunity for meaningful public input. Data-center controversies are already dividing Republican leaders, energizing residents, and influencing local elections.
 

But the most troubling question is this:

Why were lawmakers and the public kept in the dark for so long?

Governor Kehoe’s administration worked to attract large-scale data-center investments, yet many legislators, citizens, and major news organizations did not learn the full scope of these developments until the regular legislative session was ending or already over.
 

That timing left lawmakers with little meaningful opportunity to investigate the projects, debate safeguards, or pass protections before adjournment.
 

Take a close look at the accompanying timeline:

“Why the Secrecy?”
 

After the announcements became public, Republican lawmakers called on Governor Kehoe to convene a special session. They wanted the General Assembly to address the potential effects of data centers on Missouri’s:

• Electric grid

• Water supply

• Roads and infrastructure

• Data privacy

• Property rights

• Utility customers

• Quality of life
   

They warned that Missouri should not wait until major decisions had become difficult—or impossible—to reverse.
 

Governor Kehoe refused to call the special session. His administration said the issue could wait until the next regular legislative session and maintained that many data-center decisions should remain with local officials.
 

But the central issue is bigger than whether Missouri permits data centers.
 

The real question is whether projects of this size, cost, and consequence should move forward before citizens know the full details, before lawmakers can provide oversight, and before protections are in place.
 

Missourians should not learn about billion-dollar projects only after the deals are already moving, the legislative session has ended, and their opportunity to demand safeguards has been narrowed.

Transparency MUST come before approval—NOT AFTER.