State lawmakers hear data center concerns from across Kentucky at Frankfort ‘listening session’

By Liam Niemeyer
Kentucky Lantern
October 1, 2026

More than 60 people filled a committee room for the “listening session” on data centers set up by Rep. Adam Moore, D-Lexington, with speakers coming from counties including Barren, Boyle, Boyd, Carroll, Daviess, Breckinridge, Madison, Mercer, Mason, Oldham, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Pike and Woodford.

All but one of the speakers voiced concerns or outright opposition to the construction of hyperscale data centers, those worries ranging from the loss of farmland, the need for stronger ratepayer protections, a lack of transparency from local government officials reviewing data center proposals, and potential tax breaks that data center developers exploit.

Some of the speakers came from organized groups in local communities that have formed over the past 12 months that are expressing strong concerns about active data center proposals.

Diane Floyd, a member of one of those groups, We Are Mercer County, told the state representatives that the state legislature had a responsibility to regulate data centers after lawmakers “recruited” them, referring to statewide tax breaks benefiting data centers passed in 2025.

“Protect our farmland, historic sites, horse farms, and the precious water our bourbon industry relies on. Protect ratepayers. Protect open records and open meetings. Strengthen ethics and financial disclosures from government officials and companies alike. Require independent environmental and infrastructure studies and make them public,” Floyd said. “Finally, stop expecting local officials without specialized technical, legal, environmental, or utility expertise to negotiate billion-dollar industrial development deals on equal footing with the wealthiest companies on Earth.”

Some speakers were in favor of an outright ban on hyperscale data center construction, others preferred a temporary statewide moratorium. Others called for the repeal of sales tax breaks benefiting data center development.

At one point, Janet Garrison of Mason County, threw a bunch of letters onto a committee room table; she said the letters were sent from across the country to Mason County residents who have refused to sell their land for a hyperscale data center development in the county.

“Not only is Kentucky watching, the whole United States and the world is watching how we do this, how we destroy our communities and our land,” Garrison said.

Boyd County resident Suzanne Griffith, a ratepayer of investor-owned electric utility Kentucky Power, said ratepayer protections are needed especially as Kentucky Power ratepayers face high utility bills.

“There is no more money for people to pay,” Griffith said. “Data centers shall pay for the generation sources needed to power their facilities. The power bills of other customers shall not increase due to data centers.”

Martin Rivers, a retired software engineer from Fayette County, was the only speaker who explicitly supported the influx of data centers and called the potential of artificial intelligence “amazing.”

“I want to see it come in faster. To me, data centers are infrastructure, and in this way, I view them no differently than dams on waterways.”

In regards to regulation, Rivers said he believed there were likely state laws already in place that “cover businesses like this.”

Toward the end of the gathering, Pete Lynch, an independent candidate for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, asked people in the room to raise their hands if they supported an outright ban on data center construction; numerous people in the room raised their hands.

Lynch told the state lawmakers that both Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and the “Republican-dominated” state legislature betrayed constituents by passing statewide sales tax breaks for data centers.

Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Georgetown, was the one Republican state lawmaker who sat with Democrats and listened. She said she regretted her vote for House Bill 775, the legislation passed into law providing the state tax breaks. The bill was passed in one of the final working days of the legislative session in 2025.

“I think that it was a little rushed there at the end,” Grossl said. “I don’t think we got it right. I think we need to revisit that.”

She said she’s heard from “several” fellow GOP state lawmakers that the tax breaks are “something that we’ll likely revisit.” Some Republican state lawmakers have suggested the sales tax breaks could be rolled back with the legislature reconvenes in January.

Moore, the Democratic state representative who organized the listening session, said he wished more Republicans had attended the session. He said he heard from Rep. Kim Holloway, R-Mayfield, and Sen. Matthew Deneen, R-Elizabethtown, about not being able to attend.

Both he and Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, say they’re working on data center-related legislation for the upcoming legislative session.

Moore said he believes there’s appetite among lawmakers for ratepayer protections regarding data centers, but he wants the legislature to go further on environmental and local transparency concerns.

“Don’t know if they would meet us there. I really hope so,” Moore said. “We should find a solution and put it into legislation, and I would oppose any new hyperscale data center developments until we have done that.”

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Linda Blackford for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.