Kentucky utilities sign Trump’s data center pledge. Critics say it won't shield customers
Several Kentucky utilities, including Kentucky Power, LG&E, KU, Duke Energy, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, and Big Rivers Electric Corporation, have signed President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge. Critics like the Sierra Club argue the pledge is insufficient without proper cost-allocation studies by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Residents in Hancock County have already voiced concerns about rising electricity costs due to proposed data center projects.
President Donald Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge has garnered support from approximately 200 utilities and data center developers, including several in Kentucky: Kentucky Power, Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E), Kentucky Utilities (KU), Duke Energy, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, and Big Rivers Electric Corporation. However, critics argue the pledge lacks substance in truly protecting electricity customers. Elisa Owen, senior organizer for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, emphasized the necessity of a marginal cost study to ensure fair allocation of expenses, a process she describes as complex.
Spokespeople for Big Rivers and PPL (LG&E and KU's parent company) affirmed their commitment to protecting existing customers from bearing associated generation or transmission costs linked to new data center development. Meanwhile, data center proposals are proliferating across Kentucky, prompting some local governments to enact restrictions or delays. State-level efforts to protect electricity customers saw a bill pass the House of Representatives but fail in the Senate during the last session.
Owen highlighted the critical role of the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) in mandating cost-allocation studies. The PSC recently held a public hearing in Hancock County regarding a specific data center proposal, where local residents expressed concerns about potential increases in electricity costs. The developer, TeraWulf, is pursuing two projects in Kentucky—one in Hancock County and another near the Greenup and Boyd county border in Eastern Kentucky. If realized, these projects would demand 1,500 megawatts of electricity, comparable to the output of the region's largest power plants. Owen further noted that the federal government's jurisdiction over state-level data center projects is limited, rendering the federal pledge largely symbolic without PSC intervention.