FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX News) — Kentuckians will have an opportunity to voice their concerns about data centers directly to state lawmakers at a listening session at the Capitol Annex Thursday.
The session comes after months of conflict over data center proposals in various communities across Kentucky. In some of those communities, people have already made their opposition known and have called on the state to pass protections into law.
Residents have raised questions about data centers' electricity demands and the potential effect on utility bills, along with concerns about water use, noise, land use, local infrastructure and how much say communities have before projects move forward.
Representative Adam Moore of Lexington is organizing the listening session. He hopes it puts pressure on state lawmakers to take action.
"By packing those rooms, by them seeing real faces attached to them - [It'll show] those human concerns that are actually there. I'm hoping that puts some actual pressure and makes a little bit of good trouble and forces us to take some action in 2027 to put in some guardrails. Actually put a steering wheel and brake pedal on AI and data center development in Kentucky," Moore said.
Moore said he would like to see sales tax credits for data centers revoked. He also said Kentucky needs to put up guardrails, like ratepayer protection, so regular people don't end up paying for the power demands of data centers.
Moore said the main thing people want is to slow down the data center boom until there are better protections and rules in place.
"Most people just want to hit the brakes. It's not this idea that data centers are evil or technology is bad. Its that it's coming so fast, all of a sudden, at such a large scale that it feels like people can't stop and catch a breath," Moore said.
The data center listening session is open to the public. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Capitol Annex, the building behind the Capitol in Frankfort.
