DATA CENTERS
Don't get stuck with their tab!
If you agree that Louisville must regulate data centers,
learn more, below, visit our Calls to Action page and attend one of these hearings.
All hearings begin at 5pm
Who Picks Up Whose Tab?
The Ky. legislature exempted data centers from sales taxes. LG&E wants to build a new power plant and keep two very old plants running, all to supply one HSDC. If that data center needs less power than it claimed or relocates, we'll end up paying for that infrastructure, plus LG&E-KU's profit. Average residential customers in Columbus, OH, now pay an extra $27/mo. to subsidize data centers. LG&E says they'll protect other ratepayers, but too many details are vague.
Technology Changes Quickly
Power plants operate for 40-50 years. Data-storage tech is becoming more efficient. Building a new power plant and keeping old ones (overdue for retirement) for the generative AI of today makes no sense--unless your profit is guaranteed, as is LG&E-KU's. (The last time LG&E-KU had excess capacity, they used it to justify killing efficiency rebates.)
What's in It for Us?
The majority of the Kentucky legislature, seeking to prop up the coal industry, voted to give big tax breaks to the power-hungry data-center industry--though it creates relatively few jobs and can relocate easily if it gets a better deal elsewhere. Will they lobby for property-tax reductions next? Ask your elected officials not to sign their non-disclosure agreements.
The Latest in Louisville
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Last year, 150 wooded acres off Camp Ground Rd. were scalped of trees on the assumption that a new power plant would be approved to supply a hyper-scale data center there. It's when we learned: ​
​​Metro Louisville's land-development codes don't cover hyper-scale data centers. They may be built on any site with industrial zoning!?!
​In July 2025, a Metro Council member proposed a six-month moratorium to allow time to draft rules on hyper-scale data centers. Instead, the full Council voted to ask the Office of Planning to draft rules before 2026. Within hours of draft rules being posted online, they were taken down. Then, it was crickets ...
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... until May 2026, when another Metro Council member resurrected the idea of a moratorium. Again, five members of a Council committee killed the proposal, precluding the full Council's consideration. See item 3 here.
A week later, the administration finally proposed a draft ordinance. Staff admitted it was assembled hastily, in response to the threat of a moratorium.
On its surface, it was encouraging. But based on analysis by Kentucky Resources Council (KRC) expert, Tom FitzGerald, we know it contains huge loopholes. A few elements could leave it tied up in court for a while. A few days ago, the city claimed to have listened to the huge number of citizens weighing in and made some strengthening changes. LCAN views them as insignificant.
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Then, a week later, the mayor proposed a 180-day moratorium that would expire early next year after the November elections. LCAN definitely supports a moratorium, but that time must be spent on fixing the lack of transparency and long list of loopholes in his draft. Better, he should start over, beginning with KRC's model ordinance, linked below.
Read KRC's Model Data Center Siting Ordinance and assessment of Metro's revised draft regulations.
LCAN thinks the draft rules are irreparably flawed, and that the city should scrap it and adopt the KRC model ordinance.
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Meanwhile LG&E-KU is expanding the capacity of its Mill Creek generating station in southwest Louisville to meet the voracious needs of the above data center:
It's begun building a new gas-fired power plant. It's seeking approval from the Metro Louisville Air Pollution Control District to build a second, new gas-fired power plant. And it's proposing to operate an old coal-fired plant -- with minimal air-pollution equipment by modern standards -- four more years (until 2031) than earlier committed. LCAN is concerned that some of the $3.1 Billion cost of these projects will be passed onto the rest of us LG&E-KU customers.​​​​​
Please visit Calls to Action and lend your voice
LEARN MORE HERE: