LOUISVILLE — U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey on Thursday urged the region’s electric utility to spell out who will pay for the power infrastructure needed to serve a planned 1.6 million-square-foot hyperscale data center in West Louisville, warning that households should not shoulder the bill.
Questions for the utility, deadline set
In a letter to John Crockett, president of Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU), McGarvey sought specifics about what transmission or distribution additions the project would require, which party would be responsible for funding them and whether the facility could receive priority over residential customers during extreme heat or severe weather. The congressman requested responses by the end of August.
“Working families should not have to pay for the costs of bringing this much power online,” McGarvey wrote, according to the Kentucky Lantern.
Local stakes and wider implications
The request highlights growing concern in communities nationwide about the energy demands of large-scale data centers. Those facilities can require significant electricity, water and land, and often prompt upgrades to transmission lines and substations. When cost responsibility is unclear, customers and local officials fear the upgrades will translate into higher monthly utility bills.
LG&E and KU responded with a written statement saying the utility has “worked proactively to put customer protections in place as energy demand grows,” according to a company spokesperson, Andrew Gardner.
What McGarvey asked the utility to clarify
| Question | Detail |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure needs | What additions would be required to serve the data center? |
| Payment responsibility | Who will pay for the required upgrades? |
| Customer priority | Could the facility be prioritized over existing ratepayers during outages? |
| Response deadline | End of August |
Concerns cited by critics
- Potential for higher bills if upgrade costs are passed to residential customers.
- Risk the data center might receive prioritized restoration or service during extreme weather events.
- Broader community opposition in West Louisville, where the project was previously approved by the Louisville Planning Commission.
McGarvey’s letter comes as artificial intelligence and other computing demands push utilities and developers to anticipate substantially larger power needs. While AI and modern grid-management tools can improve efficiency and integration of renewables, they also drive growth in facilities that can place new burdens on local infrastructure.
The dispute frames a key policy choice for Kentucky and Louisville leaders: how to balance economic development tied to data centers with protections for ratepayers and equitable treatment of neighborhoods already concerned about large-scale projects.
The utility has signaled it is taking steps to protect customers as demand grows, but McGarvey’s request presses for specificity on the terms under which the new facility will be connected and served.
Responses from LG&E and KU to McGarvey’s questions are now expected by the end of August, a timeline that could shape negotiations over financing, service agreements and local oversight as the project moves forward.
