Kentucky farmers take on AI data-center boom – WSJ

A farming family in rural America has rejected a multimillion-dollar offer to sell their land for a data center development, joining opposition to a rapid buildout of such facilities driven by the AI boom in the US.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a mother and daughter from Maysville, Kentucky, were offered $26.48 million for roughly 216 hectares of farmland, nearly ten times its estimated open-market value.

Delsia Bare, 54, and Ida Huddleston, 83, initially agreed to sell but reversed their decision after learning that their land would become part of a planned 2.2-gigawatt hyperscale data center. Such a facility could consume as much electricity as nearly two million average US homes.

The identity of the company behind the project was not disclosed, although evidence obtained through public records indicated it was Meta, the WSJ reported. Meta said that no decision had been made about working in the area.

The family has owned the land for nearly 200 years, using it over generations to raise cattle and grow tobacco and other crops. A hyperscale data-center campus, by contrast, typically comprises multiple buildings housing thousands of computer servers, along with extensive cooling, electricity, and backup-power infrastructure.

Several neighboring landowners agreed to sell property for the project, with purchase agreements worth a combined $110 million. Legal challenges brought by Bare and other opponents, however, delayed the transactions and the payments expected by participating landowners.

The development has divided the community. Local development officials say it could create 400 permanent jobs and hundreds more during construction, while occupancy and property taxes generated by the facility could double or triple the town budget. With one in four residents living below the poverty line, some locals reportedly see Bare and Huddleston as relatively well-off landowners standing in the way of jobs and investment.

The Maysville case is one of a growing number of disputes over data-center construction in the US. Critics cite electricity and water consumption, noise, and effects on surrounding areas. A Gallup poll earlier this year found that seven in ten Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their local area.

The issue has also entered the campaign ahead of the November midterm elections. According to Washington Post analysis, hundreds of federal and state candidates from both major parties have included AI or data-center policies in their platforms, covering nearly 40% of US districts.

Some local governments have already paused new development. Seattle imposed a moratorium on new or expanded data centers in June while it reviews its land-use rules, while Nashville temporarily halted permits for data-center developments in July. Several Michigan townships have adopted similar pauses.

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