Data center builder offers Kansas town residents $10,000

Key points

• Digital Realty offers De Soto, Kansas households $1,000 in credits for 10 years.
• The $20 million pledge supports a 280-acre data center site in the town.
• A CBS News poll found more Americans oppose than favor local data centers.

Digital Realty is offering every household in De Soto, Kansas, $1,000 in utility and property tax credits for 10 years as it plans to build a data center there. The offer is part of a $20 million community investment the company is pledging in the town.

The project will initially cover 280 acres and eventually 1,400 acres. Digital Realty, based in Austin, Texas, is a publicly traded company worth more than $67 billion, with clients including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Nvidia.

What the company said

Andy Power, the developer's president and CEO, said in a statement on Wednesday that Digital Realty builds critical infrastructure for the modern economy and believes it has a responsibility to help strengthen communities. The company said it is working with De Soto to finalize distribution of the $1,000 credits to households.

Digital Realty said the project will provide recurring tax revenue, create jobs and deliver other economic benefits. It expects to create 250 permanent jobs for local suppliers and contractors once the site is complete, and the initial phase will support thousands of construction jobs over time.

Digital Realty builds critical infrastructure that enables the modern economy, and we believe we also have a responsibility to help strengthen the communities that make this growth possible

— Andy Power

Public opposition to data centers

The offer comes amid a pronounced public backlash against data center construction in the U.S. A recent CBS News poll found that more Americans oppose than favor building a new data center in their area, citing concerns that the facilities harm the environment, drain local resources and raise utility costs.