build a hyperscale data center

Ever since Kentucky lawmakers approved statewide sales tax breaks for hyperscale data centers, developers are eyeing the state as a place to build these potentially massive, electricity-intensive operations. 

The state has long been home to smaller data centers that power various online services such as digital cloud storage. But with the surge of billions of dollars of artificial intelligence investment from technology companies, expansive data centers coined as “hyperscale” that can consume a similar amount of electricity as an entire power plant have been proliferating across the country.

While smaller data centers generally have an electricity capacity of 1 to 5 megawatts, hyperscale data centers can consume at least 100 megawatts of power, if not significantly more. For example, an undisclosed company looking to build a hyperscale data center in Mason County would use an enormous 1.2 gigawatts of electricity; the coal-fired Hugh. L. Spurlock Generating Station in that county can produce, at max capacity, roughly 1.3 gigawatts. 

Some counties and cities have pushed back against data center development by passing temporary bans on data center permits and construction, responding to concerns from residents over the high electricity usage, potential water usage and noise concerns. Developers and some local elected leaders have advocated for the projects, pointing to a potential boon in local tax revenue. 

The Kentucky Lantern has created a map — with updates planned regularly — of where developers are proposing hyperscale data centers, where such hyperscale data centers have received local government approval to begin construction and where such data centers are already operating in the state.

The hyperscale data center projects are organized by stage of development: Speculated, Planned, and Operating. 

Data center proposals may be added or removed from the map depending on each project’s progression. Below the map is a detailed list of the potential or operating large data center sites around the state, organized alphabetically by county. 

Have a tip about a large data center to include in the map? Email it to Kentucky Lantern reporter Liam Niemeyer at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Updated on October 22, 2026.

Potential and operating hyperscale data centers:

• Barren County —
  • PLANNED: Kentucky Industrial Alliance, a company that has gathered land holdings in Barren County, is proposing to build a hyperscale data center and is suing the Cave City, Kentucky city council over a data center moratorium passed by the council, according to online local media outlet Barrenside. A proposal document, reported on by Barrenside, details the site could use a combined 2 million square feet and have a combined electricity capacity of 1.2 gigawatts.

• Bell County —
  • PLANNED: WYMT reported that Murray Industries, a company that owns land in Bell County, says it’s looking to invest billions of dollars in constructing a data center. The Bell County Fiscal Court passed a moratorium on data center construction in July, but some local residents worry the developer is still trying to move forward with the project.

• Boyd County —
  • PLANNED: Investor-owned company Terawulf announced its plans in June to place a hyperscale data center at an industrial park in Boyd and Greenup counties, potentially using up to one gigawatt of electricity when fully operational.

• Carroll County —
  • PLANNED: The Carroll County Fiscal Court on June 24 approved a motion to send a letter starting the process to provide state tax breaks to Deca Companies, which wants to build a data center in the county.
  • PLANNED: Poe Companies and PowerHouse Data Centers, a group also building a hyperscale data center in Jefferson County, announced plans in July to build a $9.6 billion data center near the Kentucky River in Carroll County.

• Christian County —
  • PLANNED: The Hoptown Chronicle reported in July 2026 that an existing cryptomining operation, operating under the company name North Campbell Land Co., wants to convert a 15-megawatt site for other computing work. The same company is also proposing to build another 50-megawatt data center at another Hopkinsville site.

• Fayette County —
  • PLANNED: DartPoints, a Dallas-based data center developer, bought the site of Lexington a data center with plans to expand the capacity of the data center. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported a temporary moratorium on data center permits passed by the Lexington Urban County Council is preventing the data center from operating.

• Greenup County —
  • PLANNED: Investor-owned Terawulf, a company that began operations mining Bitcoin, is proposing to build a data center, with a maximum power capacity up to 1 gigawatt, at an industrial park in Greenup and Boyd counties.
  • PLANNED: Rubix Data Centers, a subsidiary of the privately-owned Submer Group headquartered in Spain, is looking to build a hyperscale data center at the former AK Steel mill site that could consume the equivalent of more than 10% of the electricity that Kentucky produces during the summer.

• Hancock County —
  • PLANNED: Investor-owned Terawulf, a company that began operations mining Bitcoin, is proposing to build a data center, with a maximum power capacity of 482 megawatts at the site of an idled Century Aluminum mill in Hancock County.

• Jefferson County —
  • PLANNED: The Louisville Metro Council approved plans for a 1.6-million-square-foot hyperscale data center by developers Poe Companies and PowerHouse Data Centers in West Louisville in March 2026, according to Louisville Public Media. The approval came despite local opposition over concerns regarding potential air and water pollution from the data center site. The city is now considering a draft ordinance to regulate hyperscale data centers.
  • PLANNED: Real estate investment firm Dermody Properties is proposing to build another large data center in a West Louisville warehouse adjacent to the previously approved hyperscale data center being constructed by Poe Companies and PowerHouse Data Centers, according to Louisville Public Media.

• Marshall County —
  • OPERATING: CoreScientific, an investor-owned Bitcoin mining company, has operated a data center campus, with an electricity capacity of 150 megawatts, since 2019 near Calvert City, Kentucky.
  • OPERATING: Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining company, has operated a 25-megawatt data center near Calvert City, Kentucky since it acquired the site from another Bitcoin mining company in 2024.

• Mason County —
  • PLANNED: In October 2026, Democratic Mason County Judge-Executive Owen McNeill revealed that the technology company Meta was behind the proposed sprawling data center campus in the county. Meta’s involvement had remained a secret from the public for over a year.

• Mercer County —
  • PLANNED: Developer Panattoni Data Centers wants to build a hyperscale data center, potentially in the Mercer County city of Burgin, that could have a massive power demand of up to 1.3 gigawatts, according to a local school board member.

• McCracken County —
  • OPERATING: Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining company, is operating a 60-megawatt Bitcoin mining data center in McCracken County after purchasing the site from another company.
  • PLANNED: More than $100 billion in private investment will go to build a massive hyperscale data center along with new natural gas-fired power plants at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County, the U.S. Department of Energy announced in July 2026.

• Oldham County —
  • PLANNED: Developer Western Hospitality Partners announced in 2025 it was downsizing and relocating plans for a hyperscale data center to a new site in Oldham County after pushback from local residents.

• Pike County —
  • PLANNED: The Lexington Herald-Leader reported on June 5 the city of Pikeville had entered into a preliminary agreement with data center developer MD Squared to explore building a $250 million, 25 to 30 megawatt data center in an industrial park.

• Simpson County —
  • PLANNED: Developer TenKey LandCo is looking to build a massive data center in Simpson County and is suing the county government over an ordinance it passed requiring the developer to get a conditional use permit.

• Wolfe County —
  • OPERATING: A company has operated a data center to mine Bitcoin in an unincorporated part of Wolfe County since 2023. LEX 18 reported in July 2026 that the data center was shutting down.