DATA CENTERS
Don't get stuck with their tab!
If you've concluded Louisville must regulate hyper-scale data centers (HSDC), visit our Calls to Action page.
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If you want to learn more, here are some top concerns, plus an update on the local situation:
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. But, if that data center needs less power than it claimed or leaves town, we'll end up paying for that infrastructure, plus LG&E's profit. The average residential customer in Columbus, OH, pays an extra $27/mo. to subsidize data centers! Will we be next?
Technology Changes Quickly
Power plants operate for at least 40 years. New data-storage technology is trending toward using less power. Building new plants and keeping old ones (otherwise due to be retired) for today's AI computing technologies makes no sense -- unless you're guaranteed a profit, as is LG&E. (The last time LG&E had excess capacity, they used it to justify killing 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 is hyper-mobile. It can move readily if it gets a better deal elsewhere. They don't even make convincing claims of property taxes for local governments and schools.
What's Happening 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 meet the needs of a hyper-scale data center there. That's when we learned:
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Metro Louisville's land-development codes still don't cover hyper-scale data centers. Instead, they can 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 Council voted to ask the Office of Planning to draft rules by 2026. Within hours of draft rules being posted online, they were taken down. Then, it was crickets ...
... until in May when another Metro Council member resurrected the moratorium idea. But again, five members of a Council committee killed her proposal, precluding the full Council's consideration. See item 3 here.
A week later, the administrative finally proposed a draft ordinance. On its surface, it was encouraging. But on analysis by the Kentucky Resources Council's expert, Tom FitzGerald, we know it contains huge serious loopholes.
Read KRC's Model Data Center Siting Ordinance, comparison of the model and Metro's draft ordinances and recommendations for revising the city's draft.
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Please visit Calls to Action and lend your voice
LEARN MORE HERE: