Data centers spark discussion, debate

Published 6:00 am Saturday, June 13, 2026

Cathy Severns (left), an organizer with the local advocacy group SOKY Indivisible, leads a discussion on data centers with other group members at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Library on Wednesday. (JACK DOBBS / Daily News)

Developments regarding data centers came at frenzied pace this past week, as local governments and area residents debated and passed legislation on the controversial centers.

While some county governments passed moratoriums on data centers, Warren County Fiscal Court Thursday approved data center regulations on a first reading. Officials said there was no current plan for a data center in Warren County, but the new regulations better protect the community than a moratorium.

The regulations, also approved in a first reading by Bowling Green commissioners earlier this month, limits where data centers can be located and puts various standards in place to minimize impacts on communities.

“This is truly a policy to protect the citizens of our great community,” Warren County Judge-Executive Doug Gorman said Thursday.

Any data center that comes to the city or the county would have to be located at least 500 feet from any adjacent property lines and 1,500 feet away from any residential area. Centers would also have to use a “closed-loop” water system for cooling, meaning the water that is used would be recycled to cut down on demand for water. Data center developers would have to completely cover costs for utility needs and provide a management plan that outlines projected demand for water utilities, and there has to be a plan for closing a facility.

Other regulations are in place regarding the aesthetics of data center facilities, including requirements for glass facades, landscaping and changes in building facade every 150 feet.

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“Many communities, including just about everyone around us, have no planning and zoning,” Gorman said. “They don’t have restrictions … they leave that up to elected people case-by-case.”

Gorman described a possible moratorium for Warren County as a potential “reckless” decision.

“When you have planning and zoning, and you say ‘I don’t want this,’ best of luck in court,” he said. “You will lose.”

The meeting was attended by numerous citizens and public comment was received after the vote was cast. Some speakers expressed concerns over noise issues with data centers, while others shared worries over the impacts to utility rates.

One resident, Ronn Kistler, received a standing ovation from the crowd after saying that government needs to educate the public about data centers before approving one.

“It’s not important enough just for all of you … to be convinced it’s a good thing — we all need to be convinced,” he said. “As a community, we need to have time and feel like we’re convinced.”

Gorman responded, saying that members of the fiscal court have met with “hundreds of constituents, and should” continue to do so.

Magistrates expressed their views on the regulations before the vote as well. Fifth District Magistrate Eric Aldridge said while he is not in favor of data centers, the regulations in his view were important to pass.

“Residents of Warren County, I hear you loud and clear,” Aldridge said. “You don’t want data centers, nor do I. But, this is how you accomplish that, not with moratoriums.”

Sixth District Magistrate Ron Cummings said the regulations themselves could essentially preclude any data centers from coming to Warren County.

“What we’ve done today is make sure data centers may not look at Warren County,” Cummings stated. “We’ve made it difficult and in such a manner that people may look other places.”

The regulations were previously approved by the City-County Planning Commission.

That group’s director, Ben Peterson, told the Daily News Wednesday that the regulations put in place aim to protect Bowling Green and Warren County from the so-called “bad” data centers.

Peterson and other officials have described these as large centers that create tons of pollutants and eat up resources. He and others have said these kinds of data centers are the ones normally used for cryptocurrency mining, and many do not use closed-loop water systems for cooling.

Even though the regulations approved are stringent, Peterson said the planning commission cannot tell a data center where it can locate.

“We don’t pick where grocery stores can go,” he said. “We just designate areas where things could go, and then the free market decides.”

He said had the regulations not been approved, then any form of data center could go anywhere current zoning allowed.

“We wanted protections against that,” he said.

The regulations place guidelines on a slew of different environmental and utility-based factors, but one aspect that was left out was the cost of utilities. Peterson said this was left out because neither local government nor the planning commission has any power over rates from Bowling Green Municipal Utilities or Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation.

“We have no authority to tell BGMU’s board or Warren Rural Electric’s board what to do,” he said. “Rates are, as I understand it, requested through the Public Service Commission … We don’t have the authority to regulate rates at all.”

When Bowling Green officials approved the regulations on June 3, the vote came after an unsuccessful attempt by commissioners Dana Beasley-Brown and Carlos Bailey to place a 6-month moratorium on data centers in the city while the surrounding issues are investigated. The motion failed after commissioners Sue Parrigin and Melinda Hill joined Mayor Todd Alcott in voting no.

In other area counties, officials have placed moratoriums on data centers.

Edmonson

Officials in Edmonson County approved a one-year pause on data center projects this week, a move that Edmonson Judge-Executive Scott Lindsey views as an opportunity to complete their own due diligence about data centers.

Lindsey said since data centers are a relatively new phenomenon, there are a lot of unknowns that his county needs to explore.

“Almost 23% of our county is made up of Mammoth Cave National Park,” Lindsey said. “We have a responsibility to them as well to make sure that anything we’re bringing into the county won’t negatively affect us from an environmental standpoint or a public safety standpoint.”

No data centers are currently in the works in Edmonson County.

Allen

Data centers will be under a moratorium for two years in Allen County after the Allen Fiscal Court approved the pause in late May.

Allen County Judge-Executive Dennis Harper told the Daily News that the pause was put in place so the county can figure out its options for managing any data center projects looking to locate there. No data center projects are in the works at this time in Allen County.

“It’s gonna involve a lot of research and we’re going to have a lot of public meetings, but we’re going to get our public involved and hear their concern before we start making decisions on how and what we need to do,” Harper said.

The two-year pause is the longest moratorium so far implemented in the region. Harper said the time will be spent investigating primarily the electricity and water demands that a large data center project would require.

He said he has spoken with the Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation, a utility provider serving Allen County, about capacity needs.

“There’s not enough power in their grid to furnish a data center at this point,” he said.

Barren

City government in Cave City has been served with a lawsuit after city council members voted to implement a one-year moratorium on data center projects.

The lawsuit was filed against the City of Cave City, its city council and the Joint City-County Planning Commission. Kentucky Industrial Alliance, LLC — that filed the suit — filed a preliminary development plan for 381 acres of land along Doyle Drive.

Council members on May 11 approved a one-year moratorium on data centers and voted down a planning commission-approved text amendment governing data centers.

KIA was approached last year by a company interested in building a data center on the land, and an additional adjoining 75.8 acres were acquired for the project just outside Cave City.

The suit has been filed in Barren Circuit Court.

Barren County government itself has not implemented a moratorium or regulations on data centers. Jamie Bewley Byrd, Barren judge-executive, told the Daily News that she has been in talks with other county officials and the Kentucky Association of Counties on what the county can do legally.

“Currently, we don’t have an option right now, but we’re looking for other options,” she said.

Butler

While no companies at this time are looking to build any data centers in Morgantown or Butler County, Butler officials are reportedly looking at their options for regulating them.

Simpson

Another legal battle is brewing around data centers, this time in Franklin.

Dveloper TenKey LandCo I LLC and the Franklin Planning and Zoning Commission were served with a lawsuit by the nonprofit group Franklin Citizens for Responsible Government.

TenKey aims to construct a $1.6 billion data center on a 200 acre tract along Steele Road on the southern end of Franklin.

A preliminary development plan was approved for the center in March. The citizens group filed the suit seeking an overturning of the approval.

Significant public outcry has happened since the project began. Like in other communities, residents have expressed worries over potential impacts to quality of life and the environment, along with worries over energy demand from the center.

Oral arguments in the suit are expected to begin July 20 in Simpson Circuit Court.

Logan

Logan County leadership is exploring its options for regulating data centers.

Like many other counties in Kentucky, there is no planning and zoning in Logan County.

The Franklin Favorite reported that discussions in late May there focused on how the lack of zoning in the county would make leaders powerless to regulate a data center project.

‘Here to say no’

Back in Bowling Green, a group of residents held a meeting Wednesday to discuss their concerns organized by SOKY Indivisible.

“We’re here to say no to billionaires who are buying their way into favorable government regulations and policies,” group organizer Cathy Severns said during the event at the Bob Kirby Branch of the Warren County Public Library.

The event with about 50 attendees comes roughly a week after the proposed six-month moratorium on data centers was voted down by Bowling Green government.

SOKY Indivisible played a video made by Business Insider that looked into the environmental impacts of data centers and the effect they have on communities across the United States.

Data centers in Texas, Phoenix, Ohio and Virginia were examined. A primary concern with data centers stems from their energy needs and the impact they may have on local utility costs. The video states that there are more than 1,200 operational data centers across the country that are large enough to need a backup generator in case of energy grid failure.

Attendees held a discussion over the perceived risks of data centers to communities and what the next steps are. Concerns were voiced about impacts on utility costs and the effect data centers have on the environment.

Iajahnny Von, one of the people in attendance, said his concerns primarily stem from potential impacts to the environment.

“From what I’ve heard, they use up so many resources, and I just don’t feel like Bowling Green is at a place where we could support them,” he said.

SOKY Indivisible plans to attend the next city commission meeting on June 16 and representatives from the organization aim to speak to commissioners on their concerns with data centers.

Severns said other representatives from the group will protest outside City Hall as the meeting goes on, expressing their desire for a moratorium on data center projects in the city.

Meeting attendees were also encouraged to contact city commissioners, urging them to reconsider a moratorium.

“We will continue to hold meetings like this and we’ll come up with a strategy to address this long-term,” Severns said.