A data center developer building projects at both ends of the state says it will meet the requirements of Gov. Andy Beshear’s recent executive order.
Last week, Maryland-based TeraWulf submitted an energy plan to the Kentucky Public Service Commission and Energy and Environment Cabinet.
The company says a data center project it is building in Hancock County will protect electricity customers, pay its fair share of state and local taxes, and officials will continue discussions with community leaders.
At a Kentucky PSC hearing last month in Lewisport, residents spoke in opposition to the Justified Data Campus, which will be built on the site of an idle aluminum smelter.
TeraWulf’s latest filing, though, included a letter of support from Hancock County Judge-Executive Johnny Roberts.
In public meetings over the past several months, residents have expressed concerns about the project’s potential water consumption, as well as air and noise pollution. They also worry the data center could raise their electricity bills, which have already increased.
TeraWulf, however, told the state its Justified Data Campus will have minimal environmental impact, using less water than the shuttered aluminum plant and emitting fewer pollutants. It would consume about the same amount of electricity as the aluminum plant did, according to the filing.
Another public meeting is planned for the Justified project next month at Hancock County Elementary School.
The Maryland company is looking to build an even larger data center 20 miles west of Ashland, on the border of Boyd and Greenup counties. No energy plan has yet been filed for that project.
TeraWulf has a 20-year contract with artificial intelligence developer Anthropic for its Justified campus. The AI company’s investment in the facility is estimated at $10 billion.
TeraWulf says as many as 1,000 construction jobs will be created as the site is built out, with about 100 permanent positions once it is operational.
The data center will use an existing 482-megawatt power connection that previously served the Century Aluminum smelter.
The Kentucky PSC must approve or reject a contract between the Justified Data Campus and a local and regional utility.
That contract gives the utilities the right to curtail power to the data center in the event the grid is strained, such as extremely hot weather driving residential demand.
TeraWulf estimates it will pay $7 million in taxes annually to the area school district and $14 million in state sales tax on the electricity it purchases.
It also projects property tax payments in excess of $22 million a year. Those funds will support schools and libraries and the county’s health department.
Utilities, including Western Kentucky’s Big Rivers Electric Corp., have signed President Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge. Critics, though, say Trump’s pledge carries no legal weight. State and local governments have some veto power over data center projects.
In a presentation to investors earlier this month, TeraWulf said it was looking to double the size of its Muskie Data Campus in Eastern Kentucky. The project was pitched in May as a 1-gigawatt data center.
TeraWulf has not yet submitted a similar energy plan for the Muskie project, nor has it reached an agreement with Kentucky Power for providing the electricity it will need.
