Mason County, Kentucky, and surrounding counties are at risk of being negatively affected environmentally, industrially, and economically by the construction of regionally located hyperscale data center(s).

Hyperscale data centers differ greatly from standard data centers such as enterprise and colocation data centers in terms of impact, size, and scale of operations.

Hyperscale data centers have high energy demand and water demands that can put a strain on local resources and pricing of those resources for local residents and businesses. Additionally, the existence of data center(s) can pose medical risks to residents in the region with noise pollution and potential water quality issues.

Hyperscale data centers present significant and documented adverse impacts on: 

• Public infrastructure (electric grid, roads, stormwater, etc.)
• Environmental quality (diesel emissions, water usage, heat discharge, and noise)
• Rural character and quality of life (incompatible with adjacent residential and agricultural areas)
• Land use planning (lack of definition in current zoning regulations)
• Transparency and accountability (developers and locally elected and appointed government representatives exploiting vague classifications and planning)

Facts

• Water consumption
  • "Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people."
  • "Approximately 80% of the water (typically freshwater) withdrawn by data centers evaporates, with the remaining water discharged to municipal wastewater facilities. The large volume of wastewater from data centers may overwhelm existing local facilities, which were not designed to handle such a high volume."
• Energy consumption
  • "Data centers consumed about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023 and are expected to consume approximately 6.7 to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028."
• Lack of lasting job opportunities
  • "Typically, data centers are built in lower-income communities, where property values may be lower, and often do not provide many local jobs beyond the construction phase."
• Noise
  • "The types of sounds resinating from data center buildings can be harder to silence, more 'annoying', and detrimental to health."
• Risks to historical landmarks and cemeteries
  • "Data centers are a widespread threat to historic landscapes everywhere"
  • "New developments for cloud computing could threaten civil-war era and post-emancipation historical sites in rural Virginia"

We, the residents and citizens of the local community, are at risk of losing our quality of life and having resources affected, reduced, or diminished.

Maysville and Mason County are deeply consequential in both Kentucky and United States history from the early days of the nation to the Underground Railroad. It is critically important to preserve the beauty of nature and history in the region to continue to be a sought after tourist destination and, most importantly, continue to be a safe home to the many families and generations that live here.