Meta’s Kuna Data Center Development Part 1

Stealth Land Acquisition through LLCs and Concealed Ownership

In late 2021, Meta Platforms (then Facebook) quietly secured land in Kuna, Idaho for a planned data center by purchasing parcels under a shell company, concealing the tech giant’s identityboisedev.com 1datacenterknowledge.com 2. County records show that in December 2021, multiple parcels at the corner of Kuna-Mora Road and Cole Road were sold by developer Gardner Company to “Brisbie LLC,” an obscure entity. Only after inquiries did Meta confirm that Brisbie LLC was a front for its project. Further investigation revealed Brisbie LLC is owned by Foxtrot Acquisition Corp., a Delaware-registered company sharing Meta’s Menlo Park address – clear evidence that Meta used intermediary LLCs to mask its involvement until it was ready to announce. This stealth approach kept land prices stable and speculation low while Meta assembled a 325-acre site without public scrutiny.

Meta’s use of a code name underscored the secrecy. Internally the Kuna project was code-named “Project Peregrine,” a nod to the local Snake River Birds of Prey conservation areadatacenterknowledge.com 3. For over a year, city officials worked with Meta under nondisclosure agreements, referring to the project only by its codename. Kuna’s mayor Joe Stear later noted the city had been courting the data center “for a little over a year” before the February 2022 public reveal. During that time, staff and elected leaders were bound by NDAs that prevented disclosing Meta’s identity or plans. This clandestine process meant that land planning and utility negotiations occurred out of public view, with even some city council actions made without openly naming the beneficiary. For example, in early 2022 the Kuna City Council approved a feasibility study for a new urban renewal district encompassing the project site before Meta’s involvement was made publicboisedev.com 4. This unusual timing – authorizing development mechanisms for an unnamed project – reflects how Meta’s identity was concealed until the official announcement.

NDA Constraints and Limited Public Process

The reliance on NDAs had significant implications for local governance and transparency. Because the site was already zoned industrial, Meta’s data center did not require public zoning hearings or special-use permits, bypassing one typical avenue of public inputdatacenterknowledge.com 5. City officials, under confidentiality agreements, negotiated infrastructure and incentive arrangements in closed sessions or private meetings, revealing details only once Meta went public. Procedural irregularities in the eyes of some residents included the fast-tracking of the urban renewal district and the lack of advance public notice about the massive project. For instance, Kuna’s City Council voted on creating the “East Kuna Industrial” urban renewal area – explicitly designed to support Meta’s development – with minimal public discussion, largely because members could not openly acknowledge Meta was the catalystboisedev.com 6boisedev.com 7. While NDA-driven secrecy is common in economic development deals, in this case it meant Kuna residents were only informed after key decisions were in motion, fueling criticism about transparency.

City officials defend their conduct by pointing to the economic benefits and noting Meta’s code-named project required discretion to remain competitive with other localesdatacenterknowledge.com 8boisedev.com 9. Mayor Stear and the economic development staff worked closely with Meta’s team (under alias) to accommodate the project’s needs, from utilities to fast approvals. Emails later showed the city’s former Economic Development Director even guided Meta in navigating local processes, with extraordinary measures like planning a dedicated wastewater facility for the site. However, the absence of early public input and the cloak-and-dagger approach left some in the community feeling side-lined once the project was unveiled. Meta’s arrival was essentially a fait accompli by the time of the February 2022 press conference, raising questions about how NDA-driven secrecy balanced against the public’s right to know about major land use changes in their area.

Energy Services Agreement with Idaho Power (Clean Energy Tariff)

A pivotal component of Meta’s Kuna development was its bespoke Energy Services Agreement (ESA) with Idaho Power. Because the data center’s load will far exceed 20 megawatts, Idaho Power was required to file a special contract and tariff with state regulators for this single customerboisedev.com 10. In December 2021 – weeks before Meta’s identity became public – Idaho Power asked the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) to approve providing service to “Brisbie LLC’s data center” under a newly devised Schedule 33 tariff. The application made clear that Brisbie (Meta) sought to power 100% of its operations with new renewable energy dedicated to the projectdatacenterknowledge.com 11idahopower.com 12. This made Meta’s data center the first to leverage Idaho Power’s proposed Clean Energy Your Way – Construction program, a green tariff allowing large customers to fund and integrate new renewable resources into the grid for their own use. In other words, Meta would pay to add new renewable generation (like solar or wind farms) to match its enormous power consumption, rather than simply drawing from Idaho Power’s existing mix.

The special Energy Services Agreement (ESA) between Idaho Power and Meta/Brisbie is notable for its scope and safeguards. It spans decades (with internal analyses modeling 10- and 20-year scenarios) and includes a comprehensive pricing structure to cover both standard electricity service and the new renewable projectslf-puc.idaho.gov 13. Under the ESA, Meta will essentially bankroll the construction of dedicated renewable energy facilities and in return receive bill credits for their output, all coordinated through Idaho Power. Crucially, the contract contains provisions to hold other Idaho Power customers harmless from the costs – a “no cost-shift” principle endorsed by regulators. Idaho Power explicitly sought IPUC approval for mechanisms to ensure that serving Meta’s huge load wouldn’t raise rates for ordinary ratepayers. The utility’s filings state that any new generation or grid upgrades needed for Meta will be paid for by Meta, and even potential surplus renewable energy or capacity credits will be handled via contract terms rather than pooled onto other customers’ bills. This approach, the first of its kind in Idaho, exemplifies how big tech electricity deals are structured to meet corporate sustainability goals while formally insulating the general public from subsidizing those goals.

The IPUC approved the special contract, making Meta’s Kuna facility the inaugural customer under Idaho Power’s clean energy tariffdatacenterknowledge.com 14idahopower.com 15. As a result, a massive build-out of renewable energy is underway. Meta’s data center is slated to be supported by new solar farms totaling over 325 MW of capacity in Idaho. In fact, Idaho Power partnered with rPlus Energies to develop the Pleasant Valley Solar projects – 200 MW in phase one and another 125 MW in phase two – explicitly “to help support the new Meta data center in Kuna”idahobusinessreview.com 16. Meta’s global head of renewable energy affirmed that these projects will enable the Kuna facility to run on 100% clean power, in line with Meta’s commitment that all its data centers be renewable-powered. Idaho Power lauded this as a model of utility-customer collaboration: Meta gets a tailor-made green energy supply, and Idaho Power gets new generation built with the customer’s investment. The contract’s duration is long-term, effectively locking in Meta as an Idaho Power customer for decades, and its rate structure has Meta paying a special monthly charge and energy rate that covers normal service plus the costs of the dedicated renewableslf-puc.idaho.gov 17. The impact on other ratepayers is designed to be neutral or even slightly positive – a confidential IPUC analysis indicated that over 20 years, regular customers should “not only are not harmed but benefit” under the Meta deal’s pricing framework. In summary, the ESA provided Meta the energy certainty and green credentials it needed, while Idaho Power gained a huge new load under terms meant to shield its broader customer base from financial risk.

Local Government Actions: Kuna Council and Mayor’s Role

Kuna’s city leaders played an active, and at times controversial, role in shepherding the Meta project. Mayor Joe Stear has been an enthusiastic booster, noting that Kuna had courted Meta for years as an anchor tenant to spur industrial growth in the areadatacenterknowledge.com 18. Once Meta committed, the city worked to accommodate the project’s infrastructure needs and timeline. One major step was creating the Kuna East Urban Renewal District to fund site improvements. The City Council approved the urban renewal plan for the grate district in November 2022 via Ordinance 2022-34kunacity.id.gov 19, after having fast-tracked the initial feasibility study earlier in the yearboisedev.com 20. The urban renewal area encompassed Meta’s 325-acre campus and adjacent lands, aiming to use property tax increment from new development to finance roads, utilities, and especially an expanded sewer system for the industrial park. Normally, urban renewal districts are established to revitalize blighted areas, but in this case Kuna openly used it as a tool to support Meta’s greenfield project – a move some lawmakers later criticized as an overreachboisedev.com 21.

Meeting minutes and official statements also reveal contractual commitments made between Kuna and Meta. City Council members and the Mayor agreed to a deal in which Meta would construct a brand-new water and wastewater treatment facility and then hand it over to the city to own and operatecommerce.idaho.gov 22boisedev.com 23. This $50 million-plus utility project was negotiated behind closed doors (owing to NDAs) and presented as a win-win: Meta would get the necessary infrastructure for its data center, and Kuna would get a modern sewer plant sized for future growth – all at Meta’s expenseboisedev.com 24. Indeed, the treatment plant was built with extra capacity beyond Meta’s needs explicitly to attract additional industrial users to Kuna’s east side. City Economic Development Director Morgan Treasure noted the intent was to avoid a “single-user” system burden – they planned for multiple companies to hook into the Meta-funded plant so that ongoing maintenance costs wouldn’t fall solely on the city for one private user. In theory, the urban renewal district would facilitate this by funding extensions of water/sewer lines to new tenants on surrounding land.

However, critics point out omissions and irregularities in the city’s handling of the project. The Council never publicly debated whether giving a multinational corporation long-term tax diversions (via urban renewal) was in residents’ best interest; those discussions happened indirectly by referencing “Project Peregrine” or in executive sessions due to confidentiality. Furthermore, no competitive bidding or alternative proposals were sought for the city’s commitment to operate Meta’s built sewage plant – a private deal made with little public input. Some residents expressed concern that Kuna’s leadership, eager for economic development, ceded a lot of authority to Meta during negotiations. For example, meeting records show the council approved land use and infrastructure agreements largely as presented by Meta’s team, with minimal changes. The city’s eagerness is understandable given the promise of jobs and tax base expansion, but it raises the question of whether officials omitted due diligence in their rush to secure Meta’s investment. To date, Mayor Stear maintains that the partnership with Meta is hugely beneficial, citing the project’s contributions to utilities, schools and “long-term vitality” of the communitycommerce.idaho.gov 25. Yet the lack of early transparency and the procedural shortcuts (like establishing the urban renewal district before alerting the public why it was needed) remain points of contention in Kuna’s political discourse.

Tax Incentives: Idaho’s Data Center Break and Flaws Exposed

Meta’s Kuna facility was the first project to capitalize on Idaho’s new data center tax incentive – and it inadvertently exposed flaws in that policy. In 2020, the Idaho Legislature passed an Information Technology Equipment Sales Tax Exemption to lure data centers, responding to regional competitiondatacenterknowledge.com 26. The law grants qualifying data centers a full exemption from Idaho’s 6% sales tax on server hardware and construction materials, provided they invest at least $250 million and create at least 30 jobs at or above the county’s average wageboisedev.com 27. Meta easily cleared those thresholds with an $800 million project and 100 planned jobs, so it secured this open-ended sales tax breakboisedev.com 28. Once Meta met the investment and hiring requirements, its Kuna data center would enjoy a “final” exemption status – potentially forever – on enormous equipment purchases worth hundreds of millions. This incentive was key to Meta choosing Idaho, as officials acknowledged Idaho had previously lost out on data centers to states with no sales tax or similar exemptions. Indeed, local economic developers credit the 2020 tax break for making the Kuna deal possible.

However, Idaho lawmakers did not anticipate how local jurisdictions might layer additional incentives on top of the state exemption. Kuna’s decision to place the Meta site in an urban renewal district caused heartburn at the Capitol. The intent of the 2020 tax law, legislators say, was to give data center companies a state tax break in exchange for boosting local property tax bases (thus easing homeowners’ tax burden)blog.idahoreports.idahoptv.org 29boisedev.com 30. But by using urban renewal financing, Kuna planned to divert Meta’s huge new property value away from general tax rolls for up to 20 years, instead reinvesting those taxes into project-area infrastructure. In lawmakers’ eyes, this “double dipping” meant the public was getting “little return” – Meta would pay no sales tax and its property taxes wouldn’t immediately fund schools or roads either, contrary to the spirit of the incentive. As Senator Lori Den Hartog (R-Meridian) explained, “The discussion [in 2020] was all about providing property tax relief to the community... The whole purpose of that exemption was to provide immediate tax relief in the community”. Instead, Kuna’s move risked delaying any relief for decades.

The backlash led to swift legislative changes. In 2023, state lawmakers passed House Bill 328 specifically to rein in situations like Kuna’s. The law prohibits any data center that receives the state sales tax exemption from being located in a new urban renewal area, unless that UR district had bonded debt before May 2023. This effectively singled out the Meta project (Kuna’s East UR district had no such debt yet) and forced Meta’s property value onto the normal tax rolls. “This is about keeping our promise to the property taxpayers,” Senator Den Hartog said, arguing that Kuna’s tactic undermined the deal the state thought it madeboisedev.com 31. Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, typically a defender of local control, concurred in this unique case, calling Kuna’s end-run “the undermining of the tax relief that [was] supposed to go to Kuna residents”. The new law was signed and effectively stripped Kuna’s urban renewal district of the Meta project’s revenues, throwing a wrench into the city’s funding plans for the industrial park. Kuna’s officials protested, with Economic Development Director Treasure warning that without tax-increment funds to attract other companies, the city could be stuck maintaining Meta’s large wastewater plant for a single user – a cost ultimately borne by local taxpayers. An analysis by the Idaho Tax Commission indicated that rolling Meta’s full value into the tax base would only reduce the average Kuna homeowner’s tax bill by at most ~4.8% (around $110 on a $2,200 bill), far less than what residents might have expected from such a high-profile project. City leaders noted this modest relief pales in comparison to the long-term economic boost a fully built industrial park could have provided. Nevertheless, the state slammed the door on diverting Meta’s property taxes, prioritizing immediate (if small) public tax benefits over Kuna’s longer-term development strategy.

Further legislative fallout came in 2025. Lawmakers revisited the 2020 data center sales tax exemption itself, amid criticism that an indefinite tax holiday for rich tech firms yields scant public benefit beyond the initial investment. House Bill 315 (2025) was introduced to cap the duration of the sales tax break for future projectsboisedev.com 32. Under the proposal, any data center qualifying after March 1, 2025 would see its exemption sunset after 7 years (following the provisional period), instead of continuing permanently. Legislators from both parties voiced support for curtailing the incentive, citing concerns about the strain on rural communities from large data centers, the massive power and water needs, and the relatively small number of jobs created. “It provides the incentive to get companies in here…without leaving the door open for us to lose income indefinitely,” testified one supporter from Kuna. Business lobbyists like the Idaho Association of Commerce & Industry objected, arguing that changing the rules undermines Idaho’s credibility – likening it to “Lucy yanking the football” after inviting companies in. In response, lawmakers amended HB 315 to grandfather Meta’s Kuna data center, explicitly ensuring the new 7-year limit would not apply retroactively to it. Meta thus retains its permanent sales tax exemption under the original deal, as it was the only project to qualify before the cutoff. But going forward, Idaho signaled it would not offer perpetual tax breaks to data centers without review. The fracas around Kuna’s project clearly “prompted backlash” and subsequent reform – closing loopholes and shortening incentives to demand more public return from Big Tech investments.

Environmental and Economic Impacts: PR Promises vs Reality

From the outset, Meta has touted the Kuna data center as a boon to the community and a model of sustainability – but a closer look reveals gaps between the public relations messaging and the project’s tangible impacts. Water usage became an immediate flashpoint in arid southwestern Idaho. Data centers notoriously consume large volumes of water for cooling, and locals worried about added stress on the aquifer and municipal supplysfist.com 33idahopower.com 34. Meta’s response was twofold: First, it claimed the Kuna facility would be “at least 80% more water-efficient than the average data center” thanks to Idaho’s cool climate, which allows using outside air for much of the yeardatacenterknowledge.com 35idahostatesman.com 36. In practice, this means Meta can rely on “free cooling” with ambient air and thus substantially reduce chiller and evaporative cooling operation for perhaps half the year. Indeed, Meta estimated the Kuna center would use around 70,000 gallons of water per day on average – roughly 80% less than a typical data center of similar capacityidahostatesman.com 37. Nonetheless, 70k gallons daily equates to over 25 million gallons annually, which is not insignificant.

Meta’s second promise was to achieve “water neutrality” – pledging to restore as much water to local watersheds as the facility consumes by 2030boisedev.com 38. At the 2022 announcement, Meta said it would “add more water than we consume” in the Treasure Valley region through conservation projects. This is part of a corporate initiative to be “water-positive” by 2030. However, as of yet the company has offered few specifics on local water restoration. Meta pointed to examples of wetland restoration in Texas and funding to boost Lake Mead in Arizona – projects outside Idaho – as evidence of its water stewardship. In Kuna, Meta’s representatives deferred detailed answers, stating only that water use figures will be disclosed once the data center is operational and that the company will invest in watershed projects in Idaho in due time. BoiseDev noted that Meta’s sustainability page lists various water projects but “did not offer any details about its plans in Kuna”boisedev.com 39theconstructionbroadsheet.com 40. In short, Meta’s “water neutral” claim remains aspirational; the reality is the data center will draw tens of millions of gallons annually from local sources (likely a combination of city water and on-site wellsdatacenterknowledge.com 41) and the community is asked to trust that Meta will offset that in the future. Until those offsets materialize locally, the environmental impact on Idaho’s water resources is tangible while the benefits are abstract. This discrepancy between PR and reality has not gone unnoticed by residents concerned about groundwater levels and river health in the Boise River basin.

Economically, Meta promotes the data center as a significant boost to Kuna and Idaho’s prosperity. The project’s headline figures are impressive – a $800 million investment, 1,200 construction jobs, and 100 high-paying tech/operations jobs once the facility opens. Local officials indeed welcome the broadened tax base and the diversification from Kuna’s bedroom-community status. The company has also made a point to engage in community relations: it committed $50 million for the city-run wastewater plant (a capital asset for Kuna)commerce.idaho.gov 42, promised grants to local schools and STEM education programsdatacenterknowledge.com 43, and generally tried to cultivate an image of a good corporate neighbor. These are real benefits, and Kuna’s mayor credited Meta’s presence with attracting other ancillary businesses to the new industrial park.

Yet the economic “return” on the public’s incentives and support is arguably modest. Once construction is complete, only about 100 permanent jobs will remain – not even enough to crack the top 30 employers in the Boise Valleyboisedev.com 44. By comparison, a single new big-box retail store (e.g., a planned Scheels sporting goods store) would employ four times as many people as the entire Meta data center. The jobs Meta does provide are mostly technical specialists, electricians, security, and facility support roles, which are valuable but limited in number. Meanwhile, the project puts new demands on infrastructure (roads, utilities) that far outlast those temporary construction jobs. Kuna’s roads, for instance, will see increased traffic from both the construction phase and eventual maintenance and employee commutes, though an in-depth traffic study is pending. Housing market impacts are hard to measure; 100 new workers won’t move the needle much, but the 1,200 peak construction workers (many from out of town) did contribute to a tight rental market and higher housing demand during the build phase.

Another contentious point is who actually benefits from the construction jobs and contracts. Meta selected global construction giant Hensel Phelps as the general contractor for the Kuna data center, awarding an $800 million contract in early 2022henselphelps.com 45. Hensel Phelps, based in Colorado, brought in its own project management and likely a cadre of skilled trades. Local Idaho contractors and workers have participated, but with the Treasure Valley already facing a severe skilled labor shortage, many workers had to be imported from out of state to meet the demandboisedev.com 46. Union trade halls from across the Northwest dispatched electricians, steelworkers, and other journeymen, as the project (along with Micron’s simultaneous Boise expansion) “tied up the vast majority of [the region’s] construction workers”idahostatesman.com 47. By Hensel Phelps’ estimate, over 1,200 construction workers would be on site at peak – a workforce Idaho’s small construction labor pool alone could not supply. This has raised some local resentment that the influx of outside labor and firms diminishes the project’s in-state economic multiplier. Money is being spent in Idaho, but a portion flows to out-of-state contractors, and the housing of short-term workers has strained local rentals. Meta did announce that the second phase of its associated solar farms will create “about 200 construction-related jobs using local vendors”idahobusinessreview.com 48, an effort perhaps to emphasize local economic inclusion. Nonetheless, the contrast is stark: Idaho gave Meta a multi-million tax break and local leaders bent over backwards, all for 100 permanent jobs and a construction boom that largely benefited a transient workforce and out-of-state firms.

Project Evolution: Growth, Redesigns, and Hidden Costs

Since its announcement, the Kuna data center project has undergone changes in scope and timeline that illustrate the dynamic nature of these mega-projects. In late 2022, Meta revealed it was slowing construction to redesign the facility for new AI workloadsboisedev.com 49. This came amid Meta’s corporate shift toward artificial intelligence and the metaverse, which required different data center specs (such as higher rack densities and more GPU-oriented power/cooling needs). Meta’s spokesperson assured Kuna that the company “remains committed” but needed to “update the design to accommodate the capacity for artificial intelligence,” causing a temporary construction lull. During this period, some site work was paused and subcontractors were reduced, though heavy civil work like excavation continued at a slower pace. Notably, Meta canceled two other data center projects (in Alabama and Texas) as part of this AI-driven retooling, but Kuna’s was spared outright cancellation. By mid-2023, construction ramped back up and Meta hit “peak construction” on the revamped design, keeping the target opening in 2025idahostatesman.com 50. The redesign likely increased Meta’s capital outlay – incorporating AI infrastructure typically raises costs – though Meta hasn’t disclosed a new price tag. Initial estimates of 960,000 square feet and $800 million may now be on the low side if additional phases or equipment have been added to support AI operations. Kuna officials have indicated the project’s taxable value will be about $725 million upon completion (perhaps reflecting some of the sales-tax-exempt equipment not counted)boisedev.com 51.

One area where costs clearly grew beyond initial projections is the water and sewer infrastructure. Meta originally publicized about a $50 million investment in the new wastewater treatment system for Kunaboisedev.com 52commerce.idaho.gov 53. By the time the plant came online in late 2024, its cost was reportedly closer to $100 million in combined water and wastewater facilitiesparametrix.com 54. Meta’s own data center sustainability report noted it had invested $70 million to build the water/wastewater system, which was then handed over to the City of Kunadatacenters.atmeta.com 55. This substantial increase underscores how accommodating a project of this scale can incur hidden costs. Meta paid for the up-front construction, but now Kuna must staff, operate, and maintain a complex treatment plant. If fewer additional tenants materialize in the industrial park than hoped, the city could be left with excess operating costs for unused capacity – a liability indirectly borne by local ratepayers. City leaders are actively trying to recruit more industry to East Kuna to avoid this scenario, essentially racing to fill the park so Meta’s “gift” infrastructure doesn’t become a white elephant maintenance-wiseboisedev.com 56.

Lastly, questions have been raised about potential conflicts of interest or insider benefits surrounding the project. While no wrongdoing has been confirmed, some observers note that Gardner Company – the private developer that sold the land to Meta and owned the surrounding industrial parcels – stood to gain enormously from the city’s urban renewal and infrastructure plans. The urban renewal district and Meta-funded utilities effectively subsidize Gardner’s industrial park development, increasing the value of its remaining land and attractiveness to other companies. Gardner Company executives were publicly supportive of Meta’s investment, with one VP calling it the “kickstart” needed for the area to grow with “heavier industry”boisedev.com 57. There is no evidence of illegal conflict, but this close alignment between a private landowner’s interests and city officials’ actions (using public tools to enhance a private development) has been noted by critics as an area deserving scrutiny. Additionally, the project’s rapid approval track – with minimal pushback from any city council members – led some citizens to speculate whether any informal promises or incentives were offered to the city in exchange for cooperation. The record shows Meta donated certain community benefits like money to schools and local nonprofits (common practices for tech firms engendering goodwill)datacenterknowledge.com 58. These are above-board, but they illustrate how Meta managed its relationships to smooth the path, blurring the line between genuine community support and strategic lobbying of local decision-makers. Going forward, increased transparency – perhaps through required public disclosures of development agreements or impact analyses – could help dispel concerns of concealed obligations or conflicts.

Conclusion

The case of Meta’s data center in Kuna, Idaho provides a masterclass in the promises and perils of courting Big Tech development. On one hand, it showcases effective collaboration: a small city attracted a Fortune 50 company, secured major private investment in infrastructure, and did so in a way that ostensibly protects existing taxpayers from footing the bill for the new growthlf-puc.idaho.gov 59boisedev.com 60. Meta delivered on key commitments – breaking ground on schedule, funding new solar power plants for 100% renewable operations, and constructing municipal utilities that will serve Kuna for decadesboisedev.com 61idahobusinessreview.com 62. On the other hand, the Kuna project also exposed fault lines in public policy and corporate accountability. Meta’s initial stealth tactics, while perhaps necessary for competition, meant the public had little say in a development that will impact the region’s water use, electric grid, and tax landscape. Idaho’s generous incentive laws, once confronted with the reality of this deal, were hastily rewritten to better balance public and private interestsblog.idahoreports.idahoptv.org 63boisedev.com 64. And despite Meta’s extensive PR about sustainability and community partnership, the reality is a complex picture – enormous water demand in a desert environment (to be mitigated by unspecified future projects), heavy reliance on out-of-state labor during construction, and a tax contribution structure that had to be legislatively corrected to ensure the community isn’t shortchanged.

As the Meta Kuna Data Center nears completion (expected in 2025), it stands as a precedent-setting project in Idaho. It has already catalyzed change: new state laws, new utility programs, and heightened public awareness of data centers’ trade-offs. For Kuna, Meta’s arrival could indeed be transformational – the East Kuna industrial area may attract more businesses thanks to the now-established infrastructure, fulfilling the city’s vision of jobs closer to homedatacenterknowledge.com 65boisedev.com 66. But the lessons learned are equally important. Transparency in deal-making, realistic appraisal of costs vs. benefits, and safeguarding the public interest are crucial when negotiating with tech giants. The Meta project showed what can happen when those elements are initially lacking, and how governance can course-correct under pressure. This deep dive into Kuna’s experience provides a foundation for comparing how other communities handle similar projects, ensuring that future deals with Big Tech are struck with eyes wide open and with accountability at the forefront.