In rural Missouri, where family farms and small businesses anchor communities like Chillicothe, Bunceton, and Keytesville, residents are facing a new challenge: rising utility bills driven by Senate Bill 4 (SB4). Signed into law by Governor Mike Kehoe in April 2025, SB4 has sparked debate for prioritizing the energy needs of Kansas City’s data centers over the financial well-being of rural Missourians. State Representative Tim Taylor (R-Bunceton) and State Senator Rusty Black (R-Chillicothe), who voted for the bill, have drawn criticism for supporting a measure that benefits liberal, Democrat-run Kansas City and corporations like Meta, Google, and Evergy, while leaving their conservative rural constituents with higher costs and no local economic gains. With big tech’s massive profits, many question why Missouri ratepayers, not corporations, are funding the infrastructure these data centers demand.
SB4: Higher Bills for Rural Missourians
SB4, a 133-page utility reform bill, repeals a 1976 voter-approved ban on Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) charges, allowing utilities to bill customers for power plants before they are operational. This enables Evergy to fund infrastructure for Kansas City’s energy-intensive data centers by passing costs to consumers. The Consumers Council of Missouri has highlighted the bill’s impact:
SB4 is anti-consumer, plain and simple. It strips away current consumer protections and stacks the deck in favor of monopoly investor-owned utility companies and their stockholders.
— Consumers Council of Missouri, April 2025
Estimates suggest SB4 could raise household utility bills by over $1,100 annually for customers of Ameren, Spire, and Missouri American Water. In Taylor’s House District 48 and Black’s Senate District 12, encompassing Chariton, Cooper, and Livingston Counties, where median incomes hover around $50,000, these increases strain budgets already stretched by rising costs for essentials like fuel and groceries. The bill’s “future test year” provisions, which allow utilities to project costs years in advance, are expected to further drive up rates, particularly impacting rural households.
Kansas City’s Data Centers: Urban Focus, Rural Costs
Kansas City, led by Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas, is emerging as a hub for data centers, with Meta’s $800 million, 1-million-square-foot facility at Golden Plains Technology Park and Google’s $1 billion, 1.435-million-square-foot campus at Hunt Midwest Business Center. These projects, critical for AI and cloud computing, consume electricity equivalent to small cities, prompting Evergy to plan two new natural gas plants by 2030. SB4’s CWIP provisions mean rural Missourians are funding this infrastructure upfront.
Supporters, including Taylor and Black, argue SB4 positions Missouri for economic growth. Shannon Cooper of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce testified during hearings:
When we try to recruit people to come to the Kansas City region to open any type of business that uses a lot of electricity, it’s ‘Can you guarantee us the kilowatt hours?’
— Shannon Cooper, Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, 2025
However, the economic benefits are concentrated in Kansas City’s liberal-leaning urban core, not the conservative rural districts Taylor and Black represent. Meta’s data center is expected to create just 100 jobs, primarily for specialized tech workers in Kansas City. Google’s project, while larger, provides no specific job estimates, and its Skilled Trades and Readiness (STAR) program targets urban communities. Rural areas like Chariton, Cooper, and Livingston Counties are unlikely to see any of these jobs, leaving residents with higher utility bills and no economic return.
Big Tech’s Profits vs. Rural Missouri’s Burden
With Meta reporting a 2024 net income of $39 billion and Google’s parent Alphabet earning $87 billion, these tech giants have ample resources to fund Evergy’s infrastructure costs. Yet, SB4 shifts this burden to Missouri ratepayers, forcing rural households to subsidize power plants for data centers they’ll never benefit from. Critics argue that requiring big tech to cover construction costs would align with fairness, sparing rural Missourians from bill hikes of 10-15%. Jenn DeRose of the Sierra Club emphasized this inequity:
CWIP is corporate welfare on the backs of hard-working Missourians.
— Jenn DeRose, Sierra Club, April 2025
Instead of holding billion-dollar corporations accountable, SB4 enables Evergy to pass costs to consumers, benefiting Kansas City’s tech boom while rural communities face financial strain. This structure has sparked debate about whether Missouri’s policies should prioritize corporate interests over ratepayers.
Taylor and Black: A Disconnect with Conservative Voters
Rep. Tim Taylor and Sen. Rusty Black, both Republicans, were elected to represent the conservative values of their rural districts—agriculture, fiscal responsibility, and community priorities. Taylor, a vocal advocate for rural issues in House District 48, and Black, a retired agriculture educator in Senate District 12, have deep ties to their communities. However, their “yes” votes on SB4 have drawn scrutiny for aligning with Kansas City’s Democratic leadership and its tech-driven agenda, rather than the needs of their conservative constituents.
For rural voters in Chillicothe, Bunceton, and Keytesville, SB4 feels like a misalignment of priorities. The bill supports infrastructure that serves Kansas City’s data centers, enriching tech giants and Evergy while raising costs for rural Missourians. This has led some to question whether Taylor and Black are prioritizing urban interests and corporate profits over the conservative values of their districts.
The Rural Impact: Higher Costs, No Jobs
For a farmer in Chariton County, an extra $1,100 in annual utility bills could mean delaying equipment upgrades or cutting household expenses. In Livingston County, a Chillicothe small business owner might face shrinking profits as energy costs rise, with no new customers from Kansas City’s tech boom to offset the loss. These conservative voters, who value self-reliance and fair policies, expected representation that protects their economic stability.
The job creation from Kansas City’s data centers is minimal and urban-centric. Meta’s 100 jobs and Google’s unspecified roles require specialized skills, inaccessible to most rural residents without tech training. Meanwhile, the energy demands of these facilities drive up costs statewide. Evergy’s planned gas plants, funded through SB4’s CWIP charges, will primarily serve Kansas City, leaving rural Missourians to pay for infrastructure with no local benefit.
Evergy’s Gains Amid Rural Struggles
Evergy, western Missouri’s largest power provider, benefits significantly from SB4, passing construction costs for new gas plants to consumers. This follows their 2024 rate hike request, which left some customers with $700 monthly bills, drawing widespread criticism. The company’s plans, including a 400MW solar agreement with Ranger Power and DESRI for Google’s data center, highlight the scale of energy demand. Critics argue SB4 allows Evergy to prioritize shareholder value over ratepayer affordability, exacerbating the financial strain on rural communities.
Understanding the Stakes for Rural Missouri
SB4’s passage has sparked a broader conversation about fairness in Missouri’s energy policies. Rural residents in Chariton, Cooper, and Livingston Counties face rising utility costs with no local jobs or economic benefits from Kansas City’s data centers. The contrast between big tech’s profits and rural Missourians’ burdens raises questions about whose interests are being served. Resources like the Consumers Council of Missouri (moconsumers.org) offer insights into utility policies, while local outlets like the Chariton Beacon provide updates on how state decisions affect rural communities. As voters consider the impact of SB4, they may look to future elections and public forums to weigh in on policies that shape their economic future.
