Regulations under review for potential data centers in Hopkinsville will be discussed during a Community and Development Services public hearing at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 28, at Hopkinsville Community College.
The meeting will be the second opportunity for local residents to hear discussion of the regulation proposals and comment on them.
CDS staff and board members are currently working on a zoning ordinance that will be forwarded to Hopkinsville City Council for its consideration.
Several communities in Kentucky have been grappling with regulations for the development of data centers as local governments weigh financial and development benefits against concerns about the impact on electric power rates, water usage and noise pollution. Earlier this month, Woodford County became the first Kentucky county to permanently ban data center construction.
During the first CDS hearing on July 28, local residents learned that a cryptocurrency mining operation has run for three years inside Hopkinsville Electric System’s Holland Substation on the north side of Hopkinsville.
The owner of the facility, North Campbell Land Co., proposes to convert the existing 15-megawatt operation from bitcoin mining to other computing work, and it wants to construct a second facility, 50-megawatt data center, at another site in Hopkinsville. The company says NCLC would cover the estimated $8 million to $10 million cost of building a new 65-megawatt HES substation to power the data center. The extra 15 megawatts of capacity would be available for other HES customers.
The Sept. 28 hearing will be conducted in HCC Auditorium Building.
