What’s the community cost of Kentucky’s data centers, and who foots the bill?
A report by the Metropolitan Housing Coalition details the community costs of data centers in Kentucky, focusing on the impact of electricity and water usage on ratepayers and the need for stronger zoning regulations. The report also highlights the Louisville Metro Council's recent six-month moratorium on data center development in Jefferson County, which the coalition argues is insufficient. It advocates for state-level legislative action to protect ratepayers and ensure robust regulations.
The Metropolitan Housing Coalition has released a report detailing the community costs associated with data center expansion in Kentucky, specifically focusing on the financial burden on ratepayers and the need for clearer zoning regulations. Tony Curtis, executive director of the coalition, discussed the findings with LPM's Bill Burton.
The report indicates that utilities like LG&E and KU project an demand increase of up to 11.9 gigawatts from 30 potential data centers statewide, including a 400-megawatt hyperscale facility in Louisville. Curtis asserts that the costs of building this additional capacity are already being passed on to residential ratepayers. He highlighted the Louisville Metro Council's recent decision to implement a six-month moratorium on data center development in Jefferson County, arguing that this period is too short to establish comprehensive regulations needed to protect residents.
Furthermore, the report addresses the failure of two bills, House Bill 593 and House Bill 544, in the recent Kentucky General Assembly session, which aimed to shield ratepayers from data center infrastructure and electricity cost increases. Curtis emphasized the necessity of state-level legislation for both energy and water rate protections, anticipating more data center-related bills in the upcoming 2027 legislative session.
The Metropolitan Housing Coalition's policy recommendations include requiring data centers to bring their own clean energy, establishing ratepayer protections for water usage with best practices, implementing robust zoning laws as requirements rather than encouragements, ensuring mandatory community input in development decisions, and extending moratoriums until adequate regulations are in place. The report also mentions Mercer County's pushback against AI data center development, underscoring a broader community concern across the state.