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Nodaway County's commissioners passed their moratorium ordinance while they negotiate a development agreement with Scale Microgrids, the developer behind White Cloud Acres. A petition against the project gathered more than 7,000 signatures in roughly two months, according to the Northwest Missourian, and Maryville's mayor has said he opposes it.
Hurst's counterargument focuses on the fact that Nodaway County's population fell from 23,402 in the 2010 census to a 2025 estimate of roughly 20,300, a decline of about 13%, and its largest employer is a university with falling enrollment. He cites project projections of 130 on-site jobs and more than $1 billion in tax revenue over the facility's 35-year life, and contends that a blocked project doesn't disappear; it gets built somewhere else while the tax base stays gone.
Emerson College polling found opposition to nearby data centers jumped from 42% in December 2025 to 63% in July, while a March Gallup survey put it at 70%, with 48% strongly opposed. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the country's first statewide moratorium on July 14, pausing permits for projects of 50 megawatts or more, and Maine's legislature passed its own before Governor Janet Mills vetoed it.
The refusals Hurst references have become something of a genre of their own. A Kentucky family turned down $26 million for roughly 900 acres in Mason County, about 10 times the local going rate of $6,000 per acre, while a neighboring cattle farmer rejected offers of $35,000 per acre, more than four times market value.
142 AI data center protests staged in 42 states as public opposition increases
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/former-missouri-farm-bureau-president-offers-his-farm-for-a-data-center#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.