White Cloud Acres data center, Nodaway County, Missouri

White Cloud Acres, an AI data center with a co-located 600 megawatt natural gas power plant, is planned along US Highway 71 about eight miles south of Maryville in Nodaway County, Missouri. First put at $4 billion in early 2026, the cost had grown to $6.3 billion by June, and its developer, Scale Microgrids of New Jersey, had bought the Chicago company that started the project, ReLoad, in February. A county moratorium has halted construction since July 21, 2026.

The landowners here have signed nondisclosure agreements, so the county commission has discussed a project it cannot fully describe. ReLoad, a Chicago company that says it sites, designs and permits gigawatt-scale data center campuses, met Nodaway County commissioners on December 16, 2025 about land in the south of the county near Maryville, with plans for several buildings of about a million square feet each.

North District Commissioner Chris Burns said the reaction was divisive, with people "either 100% for it or 100% against it," and that without zoning the county's hands are tied: "If the landowners choose to sell their land or lease their land for that purpose, without zoning, we don't have a lot of control over that." Separately, Evergy is building a 440 megawatt gas plant eight miles south of Maryville on US Highway 71, due by 2030, which the utility says is for existing demand rather than any new customer.

Scale showed the plan to the public for the first time at an open house in June, and many who came left frustrated with the format. The company said the closed loop cooling would need an initial fill of 1.5 million gallons of water and that it planned to treat reclaimed water from Maryville's treatment plant on site, asking for about 100,000 gallons a day in all.

Billy Mires, a retired veteran and rancher, said the sound study left out the power plant next door: "That's a lot of DBs from two sources within a mile of each other." "I have state regulations I have to follow to be a rancher," he said. "These guys have none."

The county commission passed the moratorium unanimously on July 21, 2026, running six months with an option to extend six more, and blocking construction while it seeks answers on drainage, noise, light and the strain on utilities. Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker said he would also insist the facility's end user be named first, and Scale's attorney said no end user had yet been agreed.

On September 15 Commissioner Burns said Scale was getting close to announcing a hyperscale partner, which could change the design, and Scale has said it plans to start construction in early 2027.