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Senate President and Republican candidate for Governor Ty Masterson today announced the Kansas Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a commitment that as Governor he will make every data center building in Kansas pay the full cost of its own power and grid, protect Kansas families and water, and clear a national security review before it ever plugs in, advancing President Donald J. Trump's national Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
"President Trump is right, America wins the AI race or we hand it to China," said Masterson. "But folks build here on our terms or they don’t build here. This pledge protects our land and resources, protects families’ utilities, and it keeps China out of our grid. And as I have always said, the final decisions on building should be left to the local communities themselves."
Kansas already has real protections in place. Masterson passed legislation to keep data center costs off Kansas families. And in November 2025, the Kansas Corporation Commission unanimously adopted a large-load tariff, rules covering every new user over 75 megawatts, built to shield homes and small businesses from the cost of data centers and other major power users. Together, these protections require:
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No sweetheart power deals. Data centers are barred from discounted electricity rates. They pay full price for their power, and Kansas families never subsidize it.
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Carry their own costs. Big power users fall under Kansas's large-load tariff, with added costs and rules built to keep their impact off the bills of homes and small businesses.
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Lock in long-term. Data centers must sign long-term power purchase agreements and meet major investment requirements, with protections designed to keep their costs off your bill.
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Cleared for security, or shut out. Every company must be authorized by the Kansas Fusion Center Oversight Board, keeping China and other foreign adversaries out of the infrastructure we depend on.
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Kansas water protected. Data centers must meet state standards for water conservation, reuse, and replacement.
Today these safeguards are a mix of law and regulation, and regulation can be quietly rewritten. Masterson will lock the whole structure into permanent statute. As Governor, he will drive legislation to:
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Write the large-load and data center rate protections into statute, so big users carry their own power costs and families are never on the hook.
- Mandate, by law, that data center backup power be built to strengthen the grid in an emergency, not just keep their own servers running.
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Require, by law, that the Kansas Corporation Commission confirm in every rate case that each data center is paying the full cost of its own power, with no exceptions.
And because law beats regulation, these protections would cover the more than 40 percent of Kansans on electric cooperatives and municipal utilities, not just the customers of one big utility. Masterson is also building Kansas's own power, having passed legislation backing new natural gas and nuclear generation, with two large gas plants now rising in rural Kansas, the first in more than 15 years.
"Rules can be quietly changed. Laws can't," Masterson said. "President Trump set the standard: win the AI race, but not at the cost of working families. I'll write that standard into permanent Kansas law, on terms that always put our people and resources first."
Masterson has made energy affordability, economic growth, and protecting Kansas taxpayers central to his campaign for Governor. The Republican primary is August 4.
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