Governor talks data centers, health care
Published 6:00 am Thursday, September 10, 2026
GLASGOW — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that data center developers and local governments need to have “honest conversations” with one another and ensure transparency with communities where large-scale centers are being considered.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday after the dedication of the Barren County Family YMCA Senior Center, Beshear was asked about his executive order issued last month mandating that a utility company cannot increase rates to recover costs caused by data center development and operation, directing data center developers to submit an energy plan to the state’s Energy and Environment Cabinet that shows how it will meet energy needs while protecting residential utility ratepayers, pay its fair share of local and school taxes and commit to public discussion with local community leaders where projects are being considered
“They have got to be upfront and transparent with the community they’re talking to,” Beshear said. “I’ve been pushing them lately to stop these (non-disclosure agreements) and just have an honest conversation, that way a community can say how many construction jobs, how much property taxes, do we think it’s worth it or not and that shouble be a uniquely local decision. If one locality doesn’t want it, good, they shouldn’t have to have it, but I’m not sure that each one should be able to make that judgment for the other.”
Beshear also spoke of the letter he wrote to President Donald Trump last week urging him to end his tariff policy, citing experts who have said that the policy has resulted in rising food and gas prices for consumers, stifled global demand for coal, created a backlog among Kentucky distillers sitting on 16 million barrels of bourbon that would otherwise be exported and harmed beef cattle farmers who are now competing with increased imports of international beef.
“I told him grocery prices are too high and that’s a direct result of these tariffs,” Beshear said. “We desperately need him to stop digging the hole that he’s been digging.”
Beshear was also critical of the Rural Health Transformation Program and its potential effect on rural hospitals.
Email newsletter signup
U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz visited T.J. Health Pavilion in Glasgow last week to tout the program, in which states receive an annual allocation of funds to sustain rural health care providers based on needs identified by each state.
Beshear and congressional Republicans have clashed on how the spending package can be used, with the governor saying that Medicaid cuts could force the closure of 35 struggling rural hospitals in the state.
“The federal government cut $22 billion in health care funding that was otherwise going to flow through Kentucky, $22 billions that all our rural hospitals were counting on,” Beshear said. “What we face without a change in Congress, without repealing what I think is a big ugly bill is a devastation of rural health care across the country. People in this county and every other deserve to see a doctor where they live.”
Finally, the governor gave no word on whether he plans to run for the presidency in 2028, saying that he is focused on this November’s midterm election as the head of the Democratic Governor’s Association.
“We’re going to win in places that people aren’t expecting and I’m excited about it,” Beshear said. “Some time after that I’ll sit down and make that decision, but you can see here even in a county that some would call red in Kentucky there’s a lot of encouragement and that encouragement is happening because people just want stability. They want to get back to being able to pursuing the American dream, they want an investment in housing, they want to reverse the tariff policy that’s increased the cost of groceries, basically they want a little bit of help being able to get by day to day.”
