Kentucky congressman shows clear opposition to data centers in the state
Kentucky’s lone Democratic congressman said he opposes the construction of massive data centers across the state, and said it should be up to residents to decide what gets built in their communities.
U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a former state senator who represents Louisville and Kentucky’s 3rd District in Congress, compared technology businesses eyeing data centers in Kentucky to exploitive coal companies. He said the former should not get away with extracting resources and skirting around regulation.
“I am absolutely opposed to the building of hyperscale data centers in Louisville, Kentucky,” McGarvey said while speaking at a public forum organized by Louisville’s Democratic lawmakers Wednesday night. “And I am sick and tired of all these corporations coming into our state, our home, our community and using our resources, wasting and exploiting our people for their gain.”
McGarvey joins a small number of federal lawmakers beginning to express opposition to data centers in the communities they represent. Democrats from New York, Ohio and Virginia have already begun a push for stronger ratepayer protections.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump urged Congress to codify a rule that would require technology companies pay for or provide their own power for data centers.
In March, U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, who serves Kentucky’s 2nd Congressional District and chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he was unsure federal legislation was necessary when each local community could decide for itself.
Around the same time, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, who serves Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, said he would vote against a bill that was later pulled from committee to limit legal action against environmental reviews related to data center plans and proposals.
“No industry deserves special treatment under the law,” he said.
There is no single comprehensive federal law regulating data centers, but their operations and construction are being shaped by energy policies, environmental rules along with state and local laws related to building permits, zoning changes and other standards related to infrastructure.
Last session, the Kentucky General Assembly did not pass bipartisan policies related to data centers, including one that would have made sure ratepayers were not on the hook for subsidizing utility infrastructure improvements that pave the way for facility operations.
At the July 8 forum, Democratic state Sens. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, Keturah Herron and Gary Clemons encouraged their constituents to express concerns related to data centers and listened to ideas for regulation.
Points of apprehension remained the same as they do in a number of communities dealing with deciding what to do about data centers. Worry persists over increased utility costs, noise levels, water usage, proper land use, public transparency and unknown potential consequences for those who live close by.
The forum focused almost exclusively on Louisville data center projects and ongoing debate in Jefferson and surrounding counties.
Last month, Louisville Metro Council posted draft regulations for data center development, including limits on facility size, standards for noise and landscape buffers and requiring proof new projects will not pass off utility costs to ratepayers.
But other data center projects, as well as regulations, are being discussed across Kentucky.
Lexington’s planning staff released a draft of changes last month it thinks the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council and Planning Commission should adopt for existing zoning codes in order to define data centers, and where they can and cannot operate.
The 20-page draft zoning text amendment prohibits any data center from operating in agricultural zones and does not allow major data centers — those it defines as any larger than 50,000 square feet — to locate anywhere in Fayette County. The amendment also outlines conditional use related to data centers, or the specific requirements a developer must meet to bend regular rules of the zone a property might be in.
The zoning ordinance text amendment process was initiated by council June 9 when it unanimously voted to have planning staff draft these rules. At the same time, council passed a moratorium on data center development in Lexington which paused permits, development plans and zone change requests until at least Oct. 31.
Those votes came days after the Herald-Leader reported a data center developer had purchased a former Lexmark property on New Circle Road and planned a long-term power capacity expansion and turning what was an IBM data center into one that could support artificial intelligence demand.
Data center projects are planned or proposed in at least Barren, Boyd, Fayette, Hancock, Jefferson, Mason, McCracken, Pike and Simpson counties.
McGarvey sends letter to LG&E
In expressing opposition, McGarvey made specific reference to Jefferson County’s first hyperscale data center project being built by Poe Companies and PowerHouse Data Centers on Camp Ground Road on the south side of Louisville. He said the project was approved despite widespread pushback to the plan and there are still unanswered questions about its power source.
In a July 9 letter to LG&E and KU President John Crockett, McGarvey asked about the cost of power generation and the infrastructure needed to support it. He asked if the company would consider prioritization of operating data centers over its ratepayers in extreme weather conditions.
“For generations, working class Kentuckians have powered this nation’s growth. Our coal has lit homes, built cities, fueled factories, and helped create enormous wealth for those far outside the communities that made it possible,” McGarvey said in the letter. “We sacrificed miners, their families, and our land for the benefit of industry and have never been made whole. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past and again gamble with our community’s long term economic and environmental health.”
The Camp Ground Road project’s initial construction phase is anticipated to begin later this year. A tenant has yet to be announced.
The roughly 150-acre site is anticipated to draw approximately 400 megawatts of electricity, generate nearly $70 million in annual tax revenue and create 200 permanent jobs. Since plans were approved before Metro Council began discussing rules, the project is exempt from some constraints.
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