by Liam Niemeyer, Kentucky Lantern
August 21, 2025

MASON COUNTY  — Tim Grosser drove his truck across a pasture toward cattle he raises with his son Andy on the farm he’s owned for more than 30 years. “It’s peaceful,” Grosser said, mentioning the smell of fresh mown hay. 

“We just cut it and let it cure and rake it, roll it up, and then we store all the rolls to feed the cows in wintertime.”

Neither of the Grossers grew up farming. Tim is a doctor and Andy an engineer at the nearby Mitsubishi Electric factory. Their 250 acres about three miles from the Ohio River is where they’ve slowly learned how to farm. Where Tim’s grandson travels from hours away to hunt deer and turkey. Where Andy built a house.

Their attachment to this place plays a large role in why the 75-year-old and his son have rejected repeated attempts from their county judge-executive and the local economic development director to reserve their land for a potential future purchase. The last offer they heard in March from local officials was $35,000 an acre, meaning a payout of millions of dollars. His neighbors have also been approached, Grosser said, some agreeing to sign purchase options. 

“I don’t want some government people coming in here and telling me that I have to sell my place for anything,” Grosser said. 

The reason for the land acquisition, as described by local officials: A “Fortune 100” company is considering Mason County as the site for a more than $1 billion investment in a “technology campus” for data centers featuring office space, parking and green space. 

The potential project is part of what could be a boom in “hyperscale” data centers in Kentucky.

The state’s largest utility recently told lawmakers it’s working on 20 data center projects. To meet the prospective demand for electricity, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities is seeking to build billions of dollars in new natural gas-fired power plants. 

The state has expanded tax breaks to data centers and state lawmakers are eager to provide more. Supporters in Kentucky welcome the potential for new jobs and tax revenue driven by fast-growing artificial intelligence services. 

But the industry’s tremendous demand for electricity and water also raises concerns, including warnings that Kentucky residents and businesses could be burdened with higher electricity costs if the prospects don’t materialize.  

In Mason County, another source of concern is the secrecy surrounding the project. 

The land being considered is next to both power and water: Just miles away is the Ohio River and East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s Hugh L. Spurlock Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant that’s being converted to also burn natural gas.

Secrecy and uncertainty

The identity of the company that would build and operate the data center has remained a secret. Local officials have signed non-disclosure agreements, which generally require the signee to not reveal specific information. Tim and Andy Grosser said officials tried to get them to sign such an agreement, but they refused. 

The way Mason County Judge-Executive Owen McNeill sees it, non-disclosure agreements are common in the economic development world. Especially with “global, top 10 companies.” 

“They have hundreds of thousands of employees. They have immeasurable stock prices,” McNeill told the Lantern. “Without a willingness to do a non-disclosure agreement, you don’t even get to talk.”

McNeill and other officials in recent county government meetings have touted the potential benefits they say the data center project could bring: Needed upgrades to drinking water infrastructure. New programs and support for local schools. A boost in property tax revenue so large that the project could generate more annual tax revenue than many of the county’s largest taxpayers combined. Hundreds of jobs badging into the facility with nearly double the normal base salary in the county. 

McNeill worked in economic development for decades as a consultant and as the economic development director for Mason County and the county seat of Maysville before being appointed to his county’s top elected position in 2021 by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Having been elected to a full four-year term in 2022, he sees himself as a conduit “to work with potential investors, to see if a project even will fit here, to see if there’s even a possibility.” 

His hope is that a data center project could reverse the trend of population decline in Mason County, providing well-paying jobs that support the broader economy similar to how the former Browning Manufacturing plant in Maysville supported families in the 20th century. 

“Having the jobs that people can build their lives around to then be able to enjoy the additional amenities that Maysville, Mason County and northeast Kentucky has to offer is kind of one of those core anchors that keeps people here,” McNeill said. 

Pat Garofalo, the director of state and local policy at the think tank American Economic Liberties Project, said tech companies, especially Amazon and Google, have expanded the use of non-disclosure agreements in economic development deals. But he said it’s not in the best interest of communities. 

Garofalo, who co-wrote a short report criticizing the use of non-disclosure agreements, says the agreements give companies an unfair advantage in negotiations with communities by eliminating the possibility of competition from other companies that might come in with a better offer. 

In the case of a data center, that offer could pertain to using less water, paying more of its electricity costs or other benefits for the community.

“An open auction is in the best interests of the public and the taxpayer. A closed, secretive process is in the best interest of the corporation,” Garofalo said. “The ultimate result is a race to the bottom if this all stays behind closed doors and in the dark, and the different communities don’t even know what they’re negotiating on against each other.” 

He also pointed out job promises associated with data centers haven’t always materialized. He said the data center construction boom comes amid speculation there could be a “bubble” of investment into data center-backed artificial intelligence. 

When asked about criticism of non-disclosure agreements, McNeill said he didn’t see the “merit” in such an argument because no competitor to the potential data center developer would “come in with more jobs, more alignment with our educational system.” 

“I don’t think there’s anyone better to be quite honest with you,” McNeill said, referencing the data center developer. 

Organizing around lingering questions

The secrecy surrounding the project was on the minds of the 30-plus people who gathered Sunday at a Mason County church. The group, which has been organizing for months, was joined by some newcomers hoping to learn more about the project. 

“We demand right now two things: transparency and regulation. That’s what we demand right now of our elected officials,” said group president Max Moran. 

Moran, who serves as a commissioner for the city of Germantown and its almost 150 people along the Mason County line, is  part of the loose coalition raising questions about the potential data center: Where would it get its water? How far could its noise carry? How will the environment be protected? How would property values be impacted near the data center?

Moran referenced a recent New York Times report that water usage from a Georgia data center built by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, caused a nearby home’s water well to run dry and the local county to face a potential water shortage.

“We don’t want that to happen here. Not even a chance of that happening,” Moran told the Lantern. “You’re supposed to learn from your mistakes.” 

Some members of the group, called We Are Mason County, pointed to reporting from hotspots for data centers around the country, such as Northern Virginia, where residents have pleaded with their local officials over complaints of data centers’ noise and large land use.

Tyler McHugh, the executive director of the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority, said he believes a lot of the concerns brought by local residents come from “speculative” data center developers that try to build without having an end user. Data center hotspots such as Virginia, he said, have centers “stacked on top of each other.” 

McHugh said the Mason County developer, in contrast, is a “major technology company that is extremely, extremely focused on community benefit and being a good neighbor.” 

“I’m not a fly-by-night economic developer. I plan on living the rest of my life and raising my family in Mason County,” said McHugh, who graduated from Mason County High School and moved back to the county. “I wouldn’t bring in someone that’s going to cause a complete mess for the county.” 

If the project comes to Mason County, McHugh and McNeill in separate interviews told the Lantern, they have commitments or “guarantees” of measures to mitigate noise, pull “the bulk” of the project’s water from the Ohio River and cover infrastructure costs including roads, water, sewer and fiber internet connection. 

McNeill said in about a month or two, the developer could come before local planning and zoning officials — without revealing the name of the company — to present more specific plans for the development. 

Such assurances fall short for Tim and Andy Grosser and other members of We Are Mason County. 

Anthony Chamblin, who does marketing for the group, said some locals are afraid because data centers are “new technology,” but the main sentiment is “anger at the lack of transparency.” 

He wants to know who the developer is and what the full scale of the development will be, especially as some of his family worry about the value of their homes which are near the area being optioned for development. 

“What is going to happen to our resources? What’s going to happen to the resale value of people around it?” said Chamblin. “There’s a huge list.” 

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

The post Kentucky could be on the eve of a data center boom. But in Mason County details are sketchy. appeared first on kentuckylantern.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents a balanced view of the proposed data center project in Mason County, Kentucky, highlighting perspectives from both local officials who support the economic development and community members who express concerns about transparency, environmental impact, and property rights. It includes voices from government representatives, residents, and policy experts without overtly favoring one side, reflecting a neutral and fact-based approach typical of centrist reporting.