Rep. McGarvey Opposes Camp Ground Road Data Center in Letter to LG&E: Don’t Raise Louisville’s Rates to Pay for It
“For generations, working class Kentuckians have powered this nation’s growth. Our coal has lit homes, built cities, fueled factories, and helped create enormous wealth for those far outside the communities that made it possible.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 9, 2026) – Today, Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) sent a letter to LG&E President John R. Crockett III, opposing the hyperscale data center planned for Camp Ground Road in Louisville and demanding Louisville families aren’t forced to pay for the development or expected surge in electricity demand.
Despite widespread community opposition, the Louisville Planning Commission fast-tracked site approval for construction of the data center in June 2025, and phase one of the project is expected to come online in October.
The single facility is expected to use 400 megawatts of power – a 63% increase in demand on the grid, or the equivalent of adding roughly 280,000 households. To meet the rising energy demand of hyperscale data centers, utility companies have ramped up operations.
McGarvey argues Kentuckians shouldn’t be forced to shoulder the long-lasting costs again. “We sacrificed miners, their families, and our land for the benefit of industry and have never been made whole,” he wrote. “We must not repeat the mistakes of the past and again gamble with our community’s long term economic and environmental health.”
In the letter, McGarvey points to the explosion in data center electricity use nationwide – citing a 267% increase in electricity prices over the past five years in areas with high concentrations of data centers – and warns that “the companies that own, develop, and profit from these data centers often do not pay for this increased usage or bear the costs of bringing necessary capacity online.”
“LG&E must ensure that this hyper-scale data construction and the development of infrastructure required to serve it do not increase costs for existing ratepayers,” McGarvey concluded.
The letter demands answers to a series of questions about how LG&E will protect existing customers, including:
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What new infrastructure is required to serve the Camp Ground Road data center, how much will it cost, and who will pay for these upgrades?
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What costs will be passed on to residential and small business ratepayers?
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Will current customers face higher risks of outages?
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Will the data center get priority over existing ratepayers during extreme heat or weather?
Read the full letter to LG&E here.
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Congressman Morgan McGarvey represents Kentucky’s Third Congressional District, including Louisville and Jefferson County. He serves on the House Veterans Affairs, Small Business, and Budget Committees.