# Decatur County, Kansas: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Oberlin No data center or power plant project is on record in Decatur County, but the national build-out still reaches it through its utility bill, its labor market and the projects next door. Decatur County is home to Oberlin. Employers here counted 843 jobs in 2025, down 10.5% from 2019. Unemployment was 3.8% in August 2026, against 2.5% in 2019. 7 MW has retired here since 2019, including Oberlin (KS) (petroleum, 7 MW, 2024). 6 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly petroleum. -10.5% total jobs since 2019, now 843 7 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 6 MW of operating power plants, mostly petroleum ## Cities and towns in Decatur County Decatur County is home to Oberlin. Oberlin1,606 residents Lincoln Township173 residents Norcatur159 residents Jennings Township106 residents Dresden Township98 residents Oberlin Township82 residents Jennings79 residents Beaver Township67 residents Liberty Township62 residents Olive Township52 residents Center Township51 residents Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Decatur County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kansas | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 2,762 | 2,716 | ▼ 1.7% | 84th of 105 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 942 | 843 | ▼ 10.5% | 96th of 105 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $29,203 | $40,229 | ▲ 37.8% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 2.5% | 3.8% | ▲ 1.3pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 6 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 7 MW | | — | Its power plants have 6 MW of capacity, 100% of it petroleum. Midwest Energy Inc - (KS) is the largest utility serving Decatur County, one of 3 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 11.44¢/kWh in 2024, below the 13.97¢ median for Kansas utilities. 2,716 people live here, down 1.7% since 2020. ## Who powers Decatur County ### Utilities with service territory in Decatur County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Midwest Energy Inc - (KS) | Cooperative | Bundled | 29,832 | 11.44¢ | 25% | | Prairie Land Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 13,273 | 14.29¢ | 28% | | City of Oberlin - (KS) | — | — | — | — | — | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Petroleum | 6 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Oberlin (KS) | City of Oberlin - (KS) | Petroleum | 6 MW | 2024 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Oberlin (KS) | Petroleum | 7 MW | 2024 | ## The Decatur County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 843 | $40,229 | 1.00 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Decatur County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Decatur County. Kansas has 24 local measures on record statewide, and 1 neighboring county has one: [Furnas County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/furnas-county). ## Decatur County and its neighbors Of the 6 counties that border Decatur County, Thomas County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Decatur County | 2,716 | ▼ 10.5% | 6 MW | — | — | — | | Furnas County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/furnas-county) NE | 4,524 | ▼ 8.3% | 7 MW | — | — | 1 | | Norton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/norton-county) | 5,288 | ▼ 0.2% | — | — | — | — | | Rawlins County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/rawlins-county) | 2,431 | ▲ 5.0% | — | — | — | — | | Red Willow County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/red-willow-county) NE | 10,307 | ▼ 2.4% | 57 MW | — | — | — | | Sheridan County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/sheridan-county) | 2,427 | ▲ 1.9% | — | — | — | — | | Thomas County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/thomas-county) | 7,725 | ▼ 0.4% | 509 MW | — | — | — | ## More of Kansas [All Kansas countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas)[Thomas County7,725 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/thomas-county)[Norton County5,288 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/norton-county)[Rawlins County2,431 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/rawlins-county)[Sheridan County2,427 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/sheridan-county) ## Decatur County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Decatur County, Kansas? 3 utilities have service territory in Decatur County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Midwest Energy Inc - (KS), Prairie Land Electric Coop Inc, City of Oberlin - (KS). The largest, Midwest Energy Inc - (KS), charged residential customers 11.44¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Decatur County? 1 operating plant with 6 MW of capacity. The largest is Oberlin (KS) (6 MW, petroleum). ### Are there data centers in Decatur County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Decatur County. ### Is Decatur County adding jobs? Employers counted 843 jobs in 2025 against 942 in 2019 (-10.5%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Decatur County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Decatur County. Kansas has 24 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kansas/decatur-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).