A Kaw Valley Chamber of Commerce official on Thursday called data centers in Pottawatomie County “inevitable” and encouraged government officials to push harder.
At a joint city/county meeting on Thursday in Wamego, Manhattan and Pott County officials received an informational update from representatives of Evergy, the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation, and the Kaw Valley Chamber of Commerce (St. Marys). Regional officials are considering a proposal for a data center to be built in Pott County. A company called Beltline Energy out of Atlanta is working on the deal for another company, which has not been named publicly. A Beltline rep said at a meeting earlier this month that a new data center would represent a $15 billion investment for the region.
Although Thursday’s event was described as a meeting intended to inform decision-makers and not to advocate for a specific outcome, statements by the representatives of both the Kaw Valley Chamber of Commerce (of St. Marys) and Topeka’s Evergy seem to suggest otherwise.
