The Economic Development Objectives Committee met Dec. 10 to discuss possible regulations regarding data centers, including energy use restrictions and design standards.
The committee invited guest speakers from the Missouri Public Service Commission and Ameren Missouri to discuss recent legislation designed to protect regular electric customers from “large load power” users, such as data centers.
The meeting was the second held to talk about formulating regulations for any data centers that may be developed in unincorporated Jefferson County. The first was held Dec. 3, when members discussed light, noise and water ordinances.
The committee, which discusses matters related to economic growth in the county, is made up of Jefferson County Council members, as well as three volunteer consultants; Chris Howard, a Cedar Hill resident seeking the Republican nomination for Jefferson County executive in 2026; Clint McBride, government affairs director for LiUNA Local 110; and Bobby Kaye, a Festus resident and president of the Lorenzen Candle Corp.
The committee was expected to meet Wednesday, after the Leader deadline, to discuss air quality, wastewater and stormwater management.
County Services Director Mitch Bair said his staff has tentatively laid out a schedule for the preparation and approval of development regulations.
Bair said his staff will work on the draft’s recommended language for the next few months, taking into consideration comments from committee members and the public. Staff will likely present a draft proposal at the March 12 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, held at 6:30 p.m. at the Ken Waller Memorial Building, formerly the Jefferson County Administration Center. The meeting will include a public hearing.
A data center is a building or group of buildings that houses equipment necessary for computing, like routers, servers, switches, firewalls and storage systems.
On Nov. 24, the Public Service Commission approved a settlement agreement with Ameren Missouri to protect customers from rate hikes due to large load power users, which could include data centers. The plan places a tariff on electric customers using 75 megawatts or more of monthly peak power demand.
Large, hyperscale data centers use thousands of servers and an advanced network to process data, relying on high-speed networks, a powerful cooling system and automated software to keep the center continuously running.
Meta’s Altoona, Iowa, data center has an estimated information technology (IT) capacity of 1,401 megawatts, according to data center advisory firm Blackridge Research & Consulting.
Meta broke ground on the Altoona site in 2013, and it will be the company’s largest data center in the world once a 5 million square-foot buildout is finished, likely in three years, according to the Des Moines Register.
Electric usage
Bair said modern data centers could require 20 to 100 megawatts of continuous power, with a single large facility consuming as much electricity as 25,000 to 80,000 homes.
Kim Bolin, director of the financial and business analysis division for the Public Service Commission, said the Nov. 24 ruling sets the initial ruling rate for all data centers in the state.
Mark Johnson, director of the staff counsel division for the Public Service Commission, added that the ruling rate applies to all large load customers, not just data centers. The Public Service Commission regularly audits Ameren, re-evaluates energy rates and provides recommendations to the commission on proposed rates, he said.
“If the utility is proposing to change a rate, including the large load rate, it will provide notice of its request to change its rates (to the commission),” Johnson said. “We’ll look at the proposal of the company, and we will make recommendations to the commission in terms of cost allocations to ensure that costs caused by these large users are not being allocated or shifted to other customers, that those costs remain with the cost-causers.”
Lincoln Stoll, business development executive for Ameren, said the utility company generates more than 10 gigawatts of power within its service territory, spanning the greater St. Louis area, and parts of central, northern and southern Missouri. He said Ameren has “expedited” the production of two more gigawatts by 2032 to meet the increasing power needs of its customers.
“We utilize under that (10 gigawatts) to ensure the grid is stable,” Stoll said. “There is always a gap to ensure that on hot summer days, demand doesn’t exceed that limit. To my knowledge, we always try to protect our existing customers to ensure that the grid is stable and generation resources are always available.”
The county could regulate a data center’s usage by setting standards for energy efficiency, Bair said. When a data center developer applies to build, the county could require an additional utility capacity letter confirming there is sufficient energy grid capacity to serve the proposed load, he added. The letter would also identify if a transmission line or substation upgrade would be needed for the site and provide a timeline for the upgrades.
The county could also require annual energy reporting from the data center, Bair said, along with requiring the developer to use renewable energy sources to supplement the power grid, like solar panels.
Alan Leaderbrand of Fenton said during the Dec. 10 meeting that the county should consider existing fire protection services when deciding whether to allow a data center to develop in a specific area. Leaderbrand is a member of the Saline Valley Fire Protection District board.
“These hyperscale data centers use batteries, and when these batteries catch fire, they are extremely hard to put out,” he said. “When considering where this data center goes, does the existing fire department that services that area have the equipment needed to respond? If the building is going to be 70 to 80 feet tall, will they need to have a ladder truck? Does the department have one?
“You should make the data centers pay for that upgrade, which will also benefit the community as a whole by having upgraded equipment.”
Appearance
Bair said the county could also implement regulations on a data center’s design. Many existing data centers appear “fortress-like,” he said, with giant, boxlike structures that appear visually boring.
Bair said the county staff will recommend legislation that requires data centers to appear like quality office buildings and include design elements like belt courses (horizontal bands of masonry), awnings, medallions, columns and pilasters.
Forbidden building materials would include corrugated steel, concrete blocks and rough-sawn wood.
Data centers would be required to have a dense landscape buffer between surrounding properties, using a mixture of evergreen trees, decorative trees and shrubs, Bair said.
The county could also mandate that data centers have lighting timers, like Christmas tree light timers, that sync with daylight savings, he said.