General Background Information  

Liberty is undertaking an operations efficiency initiative at its State Line Power Plant in Joplin. This strategic infrastructure investment will help reduce the amount of treated water purchased for plant operations and decrease reliance on deep groundwater wells. This is intended to improve long-term operational plant efficiency, support the responsible management of local water resources, and may help mitigate costs over time.  

An important point of clarification is that the water source is not changing. Today, the State Line facility already uses water that originates from Shoal Creek through its water utility provider, which withdraws and treats the water before delivering it to the plant. This project would allow Liberty to use that same source of water directly for industrial plant operations rather than purchasing treated drinking water from the same source for that purpose.  

Some recent comments have inaccurately suggested this project is related to a proposed data center. That is not correct. This project is not associated with any data center development and was not designed to support a data center. 

Before moving forward, the project underwent environmental and regulatory review. Studies showed that there is no anticipated negative impact on Shoal Creek and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service issued a "Not Likely to Adversely Affect" (NLAA) for threatened and endangered species. A cultural resources study was completed with no issues identified, and a wetland and stream delineation study was also completed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers consulted with the appropriate governmental agencies and issued the appropriate permits for the project.  

Liberty remains committed to protecting local natural resources while making responsible infrastructure investments that help keep customer costs as low as possible. 

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