Kentucky: data centers & your electric bill
The numbers residents cite at hearings — grid, water, and regulator contacts for Kentucky, from the free GridWatch toolkit.
Subscribe by RSS — moratorium changes and community headlines for Kentucky.
As of July 2026 · changes over months · Source: U.S. Data Center Power Map by State — ElectricChoice.com compilation (updated July 2026; CC-BY 4.0). Underlying load research: LBNL 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report; rates: EIA
Facility counts vary by directory because each one draws the boundary differently — DataCenterMap lists 44 in Alabama where this table says 35, since it counts small network rooms alongside hyperscale campuses. Cite the TWh figure rather than the facility count when you can; it is the number that speaks to grid impact. Underlying load research is LBNL-2001637 (Dec 2024).
Your regulator
Kentucky Public Service Commission — website · file a complaint
Official state energy data: EIA Kentucky electricity profile — generation, prices, and consumption from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pushback already happening in Kentucky
| Where | Level | Status | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-09-30 | 2-year pause passed 5-1, running to Sep 30, 2028 and extendable a further year by council | Source read 2026-08-04 |
| Logan County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-07-30 | 12-month pause in unincorporated areas, adopted specifically to study local water supply capacity against high-consumption users | Source read 2026-08-04 |
| Bell County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-07-02 | 2-year moratorium, passed unanimously by the fiscal court; halted a Murray Industries hyperscale project that had already begun clearing land along the Bell-Knox county line | Source read 2026-08-11 |
| Cave City | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-05-20 | 12-month moratorium on new data centers, approved 4-1 on second reading to allow time to draft zoning language; the city was subsequently sued over the moratorium and has asked for the suit's dismissal. | Source read 2026-08-12 |
| Louisville | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-02-13 | 6-month moratorium passed by Metro Council. Advanced by P&Z Committee 7-1 on Aug 4. Originally proposed Sep 2025 after a 1.6M sq ft hyperscale was approved with little public input | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Bell County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-07-02 | 2-year moratorium, unanimous. Halts Murray Industries' hyperscale project on former coal mining land along Bell-Knox county line. Murray had already begun clearing land before the vote | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Daviess County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-05-28 | 12-month moratorium, unanimous. Triggered by hyperscale data center planned at idled aluminum mill in neighboring Hancock County | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Cave City | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-05-20 | 12-month moratorium, 4-1. Under legal challenge — Kentucky Industrial Alliance (proposed 1.2 GW 'Cave Point Commerce Center' on ~600 acres) filed suit Jun 8 | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Lexington (Fayette County) | Local | Enactedexpires 2026-10-31 | Moratorium on permits, development plans, and zone changes, unanimous. Expires Oct 31; Planning Division drafting Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment proposals | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Allen County | Local | Enactedexpires 2028-06-10 | 2-year moratorium (Ord. 26-03). Proactive — Judge-Executive observed 'headaches' in nearby Simpson County with hyperscale proposal | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Mercer County | Local | Enacted | 1-year moratorium in unincorporated areas, unanimous. Does NOT apply to City of Burgin, which is pursuing annexation to accommodate a proposed hyperscale data center. Grassroots group 'We Are Mercer County' active | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Jessamine County | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-08-04 | 12-month moratorium. Proactive — no data center development inquiries had been made in the county at time of vote | Source read 2026-08-13 |
| Nicholasville | Local | Enactedexpires 2027-02-11 | 6-month moratorium on data centers | Unverified |
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Every data center already built in Kentucky
GridWatch does not yet track a named hyperscale campus in Kentucky, but that does not mean the state has none. DataCenterMap keeps a public directory of existing facilities — street addresses included — for Kentucky.
Browse the Kentucky directory →
Two caveats before you cite it at a hearing: it lists facilities that already exist, so a newly proposed campus will not appear; and it counts a small network room the same as a hyperscale campus, so the facility count is not a measure of power draw or community impact.
Latest Kentucky data center news
A county’s data center moratorium doesn’t include a small city considering huge project
A Kentucky county passes a data center moratorium — with a city-sized hole
Kentucky residents fear AI data center could push power bills past $1,000
Hyperscale data centers provoke bipartisan outrage across Kentucky
Moratoriums, a mugshot and tax breaks. Catch up on Kentucky data center news.
Video coverage mentioning Kentucky
State municipal league: Kentucky League of Cities
A data center was proposed near you?
The free toolkit walks you through it in five steps: who's really behind the LLC, what it costs your community, what to do this week, and a downloadable action pack — speech, letters, flyer, and CBA targets included.