More than 60 Kentuckians traveled to Frankfort this month to press state lawmakers to set stronger rules for hyperscale data centers, arguing that local governments should not have to manage billion-dollar projects on their own. The Oct. 1 listening session, organized by Rep. Adam Moore, a Lexington Democrat, drew residents from counties including Pike and Daviess. Speakers raised concerns about electricity costs for ratepayers, rural land and natural resources as proposals for large data centers move through local communities. “Stop expecting local officials without specialized technical, legal, environmental, or utility expertise to negotiate billion-dollar industrial development deals on equal footing with the wealthiest companies on Earth,” Mercer County resident Diane Floyd told lawmakers. Moore is preparing data center legislation for the next session of the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Rep. Josh Bray, a Mount Vernon Republican and vice-chair of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, is also working on legislation. At the local level, decisions have varied. Mercer County’s Fiscal Court unanimously rejected proposed regulations in late September that would have allowed hyperscale data centers near a coal-fired power plant. Opponents said the proposed site was also relatively close to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, a historic preservation site associated with Kentucky’s Shaker community. In Lexington, the City Council voted to pursue possible data center regulations and extend a temporary construction ban through October 2027. The moratorium gives the city more time to consider rules while development proposals are being weighed. Carrollton residents have filed ethics complaints over votes by several city council members to sign land deals with a prospective data center company, arguing the officials should have abstained because of conflicts of interest. The complaints concern proposed projects in Carroll County, which is home to two planned large data centers. One is proposed by Poe Companies and PowerHouse Data Centers; PowerHouse is also building a hyperscale facility in West Louisville. The complaints are allegations, not findings of misconduct. Other local governments are considering their own approaches. Hopkinsville is developing proposed regulations, while Georgetown officials have voted to draft an ordinance that would ban data centers. The range of local responses underscores the stakes of the policy debate: communities are weighing potential development against questions about who bears its costs and whether local officials have the expertise and leverage to set terms. State lawmakers are expected to take up the issue when the legislature returns next year.