An eastern Kentucky state senator says she has little information about a data center that’s been proposed in her district.
Sen. Robin Webb, a Grayson Republican, represents Boyd, Carter and Greenup Counties. Last month, data center developer TeraWulf announced plans to build a large facility in her district.
Webb said the project came as a surprise to her and other state lawmakers.
“We have filed a request,” she said. “The legislative delegation has filed a request, and I've made some requests of my own pertaining to this site and others.”
During this year’s legislative session, Webb supported a House bill to protect residents from bearing data center costs. It did not advance in the Senate.
Webb said lawmakers could still act.
“Yeah, there are things we can do,” she said. “We got to protect our farmland, and we've got to protect our water, and I've got to protect my ratepayers, and we got to have assurance that they can bring their own power to the ballgame.”
TeraWulf’s proposed data center could consume 1 gigawatt of electricity, similar to what some of the largest power plants in the region can produce.
In a recent exchange with reporters, Gov. Andy Beshear said data centers needed to pay for their own electricity and not burden local residents with those costs.
A public meeting on the TeraWulf project will be held at Boyd County High School in Ashland at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Northeast Kentucky isn’t the only region of the state where data center proposals have raised concerns among state and local officials.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council enacted a temporary moratorium on data center development last week.
Data center debates have percolated in Barren, Daviess, Mason, Mercer, Oldham, Simpson and Warren counties.
Large, hyperscale data centers consume vast acreage and require massive amounts of electricity and water.
They can create noise pollution and air pollution emitted by diesel backup generators.
Local officials, though, prize the construction jobs and the tax revenues they can bring.
The proposed site of the TeraWulf project is the location originally proposed for an aluminum smelter that fell through.
