The city of Edgerton, Kansas, is suing two of its residents for trying to force a public vote on whether a high-impact data center should be built in their town. Carrie Schmidt and Kimberly Twente collected more than 200 confirmed valid petition signatures demanding a ban on data centers, after a $700-million proposal from Dubai-based DAMAC Digital sparked community backlash over water usage and environmental degradation. But rather than adopt the ban or hold a vote as the city was legally required to do, they sued. On Monday, a Kansas judge ruled in a nearly identical case that the city of El Dorado must adopt a ban or hold a vote, after more than 700 residents there signed a similar petition.

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