The Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom Presents: When Data Centers Come to Town
There’s a new gold rush underway, and this time it’s about computing power. All across Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, developers are proposing and building major data centers.
Some officials are touting the potential economic benefits of the projects. Many residents are packing local meetings throughout the region to push back.
Each week through Sept. 8, the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom and its seven member stations will bring you a new story about how data centers impact our electricity grid, environment and communities.
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The mayor of Gallatin, Tennessee says a hyperscale Meta data center is the city’s largest taxpayer and has done a lot of charitable giving in the community. But two years into operation, residents in the northern Tennessee town still have concerns about its effect on utilities, the environment, and property values. -
Elon Musk’s xAI runs one of the nation’s largest data centers in Memphis. It’s powered by about 60 gas turbines that emit a loud, unsettling noise. -
As data center proposals spring up in communities across Kentucky, residents want more answers about their would-be neighbors from developers and their own public officials. -
Opposition to hyperscale data centers is stoking bipartisanship in Kentucky, with Republicans and Democrats finding common cause in their resistance to local proposals. -
Residents across Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia have packed public meetings in recent months to speak out against data centers, with a recurring concern being how they could affect the cost of electricity. -
Data center development is a fast growing industry, with projects popping up in seemingly every corner of the country. But that’s not been the case in West Virginia so far. Now, state officials are rolling out the red carpet for the expensive and increasingly expansive projects.
This Is Nashville
This series was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting; WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee; LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU Public Radio in Kentucky; and NPR. Sign up for the weekly Porch Light newsletter here for news from around the region.
