Voters in a small Missouri town booted four city council members who backed a $6 billion data center despite fierce local opposition.
Irate residents of Festus — a city of about 14,000 roughly 35 miles south of St. Louis — voted out four council members just days after they approved the controversial project.
Local opposition to the data center, which was set to be built on some 360 acres of land by investment firm CRG Clayco, had been building in the weeks leading up to the March 30 special meeting.
At the meeting, council members voted 6-2 to approve an infrastructure, development and funding agreement for the $6 billion project.
While city leaders touted the project’s economic benefits, key details — including who would ultimately operate the facility and how it would impact local resources — were unclear, fueling frustration among residents.
Locals have fiercely opposed the project, raising concerns about its environmental impact, property values and the prospect of a massive industrial facility being built near homes.
Many also argued city officials ignored public input and rushed the approval process despite widespread backlash.
Four incumbent council members — Jim Collier in Ward 1, Brian Wehner in Ward 2, Robert “Bobby” Venz in Ward 3 and Jim Tinnin in Ward 4 — were voted out, each losing to challengers who ran on anti-data center and pro-transparency platforms, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
Festus residents framed the election as a political reckoning, with one newly elected council member, Dan Moore, saying the data center fight “struck this community to the core” and “ignited a community-driven effort.”
“We have been ignored for way too long,” said Moore, who defeated Venz in Ward 3.
“It has been a problem in Festus for quite some time. I think this has just brought it to the surface.”
Festus Mayor Sam Richards — who supported the data center project — could be next.
Residents have already begun collecting signatures to trigger a recall effort against him.
“I am not against growth,” resident Lauren Albers said during a heated council meeting in late March.
“I’m against putting data centers between homes. I am against rushing into development before residents get real information, real answers and a real voice,” she was quoted as saying by St. Louis Public Radio.
Opposition to data centers is mounting across the country as communities grapple with the heavy demands the facilities place on local resources — particularly water and electricity.
In water-strapped regions like Nevada, the concerns are especially acute.
“These data centers … consume around 250 million gallons of water in a year,” Christopher Lee, a partner at Foresight Strategic Advisors, told The Post, adding that while they aren’t solely responsible for shortages, “they are kind of accelerating the problem.”
That strain is fueling backlash at the local level.
Residents worry that companies are “just grabbing all the water they can and … leaving us with nothing,” Lee said, underscoring why transparency and community engagement have become flashpoints.
In Nevada, residents in Boulder City have pushed back against a proposed facility, while officials in Reno have clashed over approvals and even floated moratoriums.
Elsewhere, local governments in Idaho and Colorado have imposed temporary bans to study impacts, and cities like Denver are weighing similar moves.
Despite the pushback, companies continue to aggressively pursue new projects, drawn by tax incentives and massive demand for cloud computing and AI infrastructure.
The facilities are viewed as critical to powering the digital economy — but Lee warned that developers ignore community concerns at their peril.
“Any elected official that engages with that … is going to pay that price,” he said, pointing to growing political risks for leaders who back projects without public buy-in.
The Post has sought comment from Richards and CRG Clayco.
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