Another data center coming to KY? What we know about secretive Mason County project
Ninety minutes north of Lexington and near the Ohio River, a city in Mason County is part of a “global site selection process” for a data center.
“We are working with a Fortune 100 technology company that develops, owns and operates large-scale technology campuses worldwide,” said Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority Economic Development Director Tyler McHugh in front of the county’s fiscal court Aug. 13.
“They are the end-user, not a speculative developer, and they are recognized globally for their world-class facilities, highly skilled workforce and strong community partnerships.”
McHugh said the campus would include single-story data center buildings, some office space and enough parking to support employees at both.
The operator of the data centers will, McHugh said, be responsible for mitigating sound produced at the site if it gets completed, and it would pay for the necessary road, sewer, water and electricity infrastructure needed to support the campus.
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McHugh and Mason County Judge Executive Owen McNeill didn’t elaborate on much else Aug. 13 or in any other public meeting before then or since.
The process thus far has been shrouded in secrecy as Maysville and Mason County officials continue to talk behind closed doors. . Those public officials are working under agreements made with the data center operator to not identify the end user until the deal is final.
“I get that everybody is nervous over new technology and over new things, however we still haven’t won our project, but I prefer to look at what possible opportunities,” McNeill said Aug. 13, according to the Ledger Independent.
“Yes, there are challenges — there are challenges with any project — but, we have local elected leadership, we have planning and zoning and a framework within this county. We have a state leadership, and we have phenomenal partners in our utility providers, our water and wastewater folks.”
While the process has happened largely in secret, this is what we know so far about the potential project in Mason County:
- Local officials said a “Fortune 100” company, a ranking of the largest US corporations by revenue, was looking at Mason County as a potential location for a $1 billion technology campus that would include a data center and office space.
- There’s no timeline for how long the site selection process will take. There’s no anticipated timeline for construction either.
- During peak construction, the project may support up to 1,000 jobs. During operations, 400 people might work in the data center or adjoining office space. Those positions would likely be technicians, engineers and project managers.
- Mason County residents have turned down as much as $35,000 per acre from local officials to reserve their land for the potential development, according to reports. They said the project’s secrecy is the reason they continue to say no.
- It wasn’t until residents offered money for land and other neighbors started digging that local officials confirmed Aug. 13 a data center was part of the speculative, secret project and not other rumored uses for a solar farm, prison or landfill.
- The county’s judge executive and economic development director continue to say, for the sake of economic development and landing the deal, it’s beneficial they operate and communicate with the end user in secret.
- The pair is familiar with the details and believe the data center operator will bring more than jobs to Maysville. They hope it will reverse population decline and pump money into the area’s public services, especially its schools and fire department. If the deal gets further along in the process, public officials have promised to keep residents informed and involved.
- A group called “We Are Mason County’ has formed in opposition to the proposed campus. Residents that are part of the group have hosted meetings in local churches, continue to show up to meetings and have made dozens of red signs that in a purposefully pixelated font say, “NO DATA CENTER. NOT HERE. NOT NOW. NEVER.”
- Vocal residents in opposition of the data center are voicing concern over the secretive nature of the deal. They continue to ask questions they still have no answers to about how much resources the campus will use and from where, what measures are being taken to protect their health and safety and what happens if the deal falls through.
To meet demand from data centers, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities continue to go through the approvals process with the state’s utility regulatory commission to start almost $4 billion of construction on new power plants and upgrades to others. Those projects are in Carroll, Jefferson and Mercer counties.
In Mason County, the East Kentucky Power Cooperative is converting its coal-fired Spurlock Power Station to also burn natural gas. It’s received a number of recent asks to support new customers, according to project documents, and told the state’s utility regulatory commission it would soon need to increase its power output to accommodate data center need.
Earlier this year, the Kentucky General Assembly said tax incentives were OK for some data center projects, which has made the commonwealth even more attractive than before for the development. The state’s first data center is being built in South Louisville after getting approval June 18.
The approvals process for the Louisville data center was much different than the proposal for the same kind of development in Oldham County and what might happen in Mason County, too.
In Louisville, the Rubbertown land was already zoned industrial and didn’t require land-use approvals.
In Oldham County to the east of Louisville, real estate developer Western Hospitality Partners dropped a $6 billion proposal July 4 for a giant data center campus it wanted to build on farmland. The developer’s initial plan included multiple buildings then was modified to be much smaller before being finally withdrawn following months of community outrage and allegations that public officials were taking bribes and engaging in other corruption.
Poe Companies, a prominent Louisville real estate firm, and Virginia-based PowerHouse Data Centers are building the South Louisville project for an unidentified end-user.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 4:30 AM.
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