Crusoe Data Center, Callaway County, Missouri

Crusoe, a Denver-based AI company, wants to build a $4.5 billion data center on 200 acres in the northwest Kingdom City area of Callaway County, Missouri. "It's not an absolute done deal," Western District Commissioner Christopher Scott said in late July 2026, adding that to his knowledge there had been no land purchase and no agreement with the water district. Crusoe's site plan has changed more than once, from one 800,000-square-foot building to two shown at a July open house, and Scott said it may become three smaller buildings.

Callaway County has no planning and zoning outside its towns, so it has no say over whether the data center is built on private land; its main lever is taxes. Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann said the commission wants a Chapter 100 agreement, a tax abatement that is also a contract guaranteeing payments, with no abatement on real estate but close to an 80 percent abatement on the servers.

Power may decide the matter: Crusoe plans to connect through Callaway Electric Cooperative, which Jungermann said has told the county there is no additional power available. "Until there's more generation brought on, it kind of imposes its own moratorium for where we're at," Scott said, and the water district would also need larger pipes before the data center could connect. The deals still to come are with Callaway Electric Cooperative, the water district and the county commission on the tax agreement.