Missouri lawmakers this year approved legislation requiring data centers to pay for all of the electricity they consume, ensuring that everyday utility customers will not cover those costs. The measure, passed during the last legislative session, directs utilities to create special tariff schedules for customers whose demand exceeds 100 megawatts, a threshold that covers large-scale data center operations. The Missouri Public Service Commission is now in the process of finalizing rules for how those tariffs will be implemented.
“Data centers are required by law to pay rates that the PSC has determined reasonably cover their fair share of energy costs to serve them. We are not offering them any discounts,” said Rob Dixon, Senior Director of Economic, Community, and Business Development at Ameren. “The infrastructure costs to connect large data centers to the grid are not passed on to other customers.”
State leaders have promoted the law as part of a broader effort to make Missouri competitive for technology investment. This law was supported by a broad coalition, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Missouri AFL-CIO, two groups normally on the opposite side of most issues. Data centers, which support cloud computing and artificial intelligence, require large amounts of power and are seen as a growing sector for economic development.
Officials say attracting such facilities brings benefits, including construction employment, long-term technical jobs, new tax revenue, and the expansion of broadband and utility services. Without clear rules, they warn, Missouri could lose out to other states that have already put policies in place.
Nationally, President Donald Trump has also stressed the importance of digital infrastructure, especially for its importance to U.S. national security against adversaries like China. “We must build tomorrow’s backbone today—power grids, computing capacity, infrastructure—so when the world’s biggest minds ask where to build, they build here,” Trump said earlier this year.
The Public Service Commission is expected to complete its rulemaking later this year, setting the framework for how Missouri utilities and large customers will operate under the new law.
Jake Kroesen is a Jackson County native and a graduate of the University of Central Missouri. He holds a B.S. in Political Science.
