Across Kentucky, communities are being asked to accept massive, resource-hungry hyperscale data centers—without public input, enforceable zoning rules, or environmental protections. These projects are moving forward behind closed doors, fueled by state-level tax breaks that don’t require job creation, don’t guarantee wages, and don’t include basic transparency for the communities affected.

In Louisville, construction is already underway on an $11 billion data center campus—Kentucky’s first of its kind—on 160 acres of green space. Local residents were given no real opportunity to weigh in before homes were marked for demolition and trailers arrived on site. Across the state, similar stories are unfolding. In Oldham, Meade, Mason, and Trimble Counties, communities are pushing back—demanding transparency, asking questions about pollution, and calling for moratoriums before it’s too late.

These data centers require hundreds of megawatts of electricity—enough to power entire counties—and will only increase Kentucky’s reliance on coal and gas. Yet the legislature passed sweeping tax incentives anyway, lobbied by tech giants like Google and Meta, with no public oversight and no environmental safeguards.

This isn’t about opposing technology. It’s about making sure these billion-dollar projects don’t reshape our state without our consent. We have the right to ask: Where will the power come from? Who benefits? And who bears the cost?

We call on the Kentucky General Assembly and the Kentucky Public Service Commission to immediately enact a statewide moratorium on all new hyperscale data center developments until meaningful statewide regulations are in place—regulations that include environmental review, transparency requirements, and enforceable zoning protections.

And we urge the Louisville Metro Council to pause construction of the PowerHouse Data Center project until these minimum standards are adopted. No data center should be built in Kentucky until the people of Kentucky have a voice in the process.