FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — State lawmakers will return to the Capitol for the interim legislative session over the next few months, and one topic some of them say must be addressed is protecting Kentuckians from higher electrical bills if a data center is built in their community.
Data centers are currently being proposed across Kentucky, and several communities have been fighting to keep them out. One of the primary concerns is that data centers consume a massive amount of electricity, along with other resources.
Some lawmakers agree that Kentuckians shouldn't be left paying for the cost of supplying that extra energy.
"We have seen an incredible demand within Kentucky for data centers," Rep. Josh Bray, during a discussion of House Bill 593 earlier this year.
Bray introduced House Bill 593, which passed out of the Kentucky House of Representatives. The bill would have required companies building data centers to pay for any electrical infrastructure upgrades needed to supply the additional power — and to pay for the power they use.
"We want to make sure that ratepayers aren't subsidizing or taking the risk on data center development," Bray said before the House voted yes on HB 593 in March.
Bray outlined what the bill would have required of incoming data center operators.
"We want to make sure that when they come in, they either bring in their own generation — which a lot of big tech companies are wanting to do — or they purchase their power on the open market or they prepay for any generation or transmission cost increases up front," Bray said.
The Kentucky House strongly supported the proposal, but the bill ran into trouble in the Kentucky Senate, where it ultimately failed.
Lawmakers indicated they are still looking into ways to legally protect Kentuckians.
