It’s apparent now that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is becoming a part of our everyday lives, whether we like it or not. While this new technology has its advantages and disadvantages, it’s very clear what the impacts of this technology is on the environment. Now look, I’m not going to soapbox this by saying “save the environment, AI bad.” I’m here to discuss how AI has led to the planning and controversy behind a new data center a few miles from Centre’s campus in Mercer County.
For those who maybe don’t know the discussion as to why data centers are controversial, well, truthfully it’s pretty obvious. These large facilities consume a large amount of natural resources to power the extensive and, respectfully, impressive servers on the inside. Before the large-scale AI boom across the country within the past few years, there were roughly 2,000 to 3,000 reported AI centers active across the U.S. Now, as of late 2026, there are now close to 6,000 AI centers. All across the country we’re seeing the announcement of new data centers being built, especially in rural areas. Thankfully, many states are passing laws and legislation that bans these large facilities to be built in rural and urban areas. Kentucky being one of them.
Now, with that out of the way, what’s happening up the road in Mercer County, specifically the small community of Burgin, Kentucky?
Above, we see the city boundary of Burgin (in yellow), as well as the proposed Data center site, with the affected properties (in red). Last week, the city of Burgin held a City Council meeting where members of the community came with comments in regards to the proposed data center annexation. During this meeting, City Council member Melinda Wofford, quietly, respectfully, and ‘intentionally’ walked out of the meeting. Wofford leaving the meeting cost the council its quorum and stopped a vote that would have restarted the annexation process for the data center. For those who don’t know what “quorum” means, it’s the minimum number of members that must be present at a meeting to conduct business.
For the scale of this proposed data center, here’s a map of the general area of Burgin (light blue), Shakertown (blue), the Mercer County IT Zone (yellow), surrounding horse farms (pink), and the proposed Data center site (red). While zoning is one of the primary issues of this new data center, the one most people aren’t talking about is the impact to Herrington Lake just a few miles to the east. For those who don’t know, data centers are mostly planned near bodies of water, to be able to pump water from the source, into the facilities to cool off these large servers. The problem here is that Herrington Lake isn’t large enough to sustain continuous water consumption for this new data center. During the winter, the lake is dropped ten-twenty feet below “normal pool,” making consumption of water difficult. That’s in addition to the hydroelectric plant near the dam (in yellow). Herrington Lake supplies water and electricity to surrounding counties, so if this data center were built, that would have major negative impacts.
Thankfully, as of September 2026, no further progress has been made in regards to the construction of this new data center. If you would like to help in the aid of stopping this data center, please put your name on the petition that has gone around Centre’s campus, as well as going online to sign up. Again, everyone has their opinions on AI and data centers, but at least be respectful to those who disagree with it.