Data centers have dominated headlines and social feeds lately. In a four-part series, WVXU is delving into the issues surrounding some that are proposed for our region.
The rolling green farmland around Lisa Helphanstine's home outside of Maysville, Ky. is quiet, punctuated by a few stands of trees and her neighbors' trailers. She grew up nearby and moved to the Meadowland Village Mobile Home Park seven years ago when her husband passed away.
"The neighbors are really friendly," she says. "I love the scenic views here. Watching the animals and seeing the birds. It's very nice — comfortable and relaxing."
Inside her trailer, Helphanstine has boxes packed full of her things. The mobile home park's owners have agreed to sell it to make room for a hyperscale data center.
Supporters of the massive project on 2,000 acres of land say it could be a game-changer for Mason County, bringing its economy into a new era. But Helphanstine says she's afraid it could make her homeless.
"I'm so, so stressed out," she says. "I have no idea what I'm going to do. I know I'm going to have to move."
Helphanstine doesn't know exactly when her last day at the mobile home park will be. She was initially given three months' notice back in March. That's now up in the air as a lawsuit over a zoning issue with the data center plays out.
The impending relocation is a daunting prospect for Helphanstine and her roughly two dozen neighbors, most of them elderly. She says relocating a trailer is expensive, and land to put a mobile home on is scarce in the county, meaning she'll likely have to move further from her family. Helphanstine says the expense will exceed the $50,000 in relocation money she's getting from her landlord.
'Pretty good opportunity'
Mason County officials and landowners have been meeting with what they say is a Fortune 50 company considering the data center. They've signed non-disclosure agreements, and the details and timeline of the plan aren't fully known yet.
Judge/Executive Owen McNeill says the project could put the area at the forefront of the new technology economy, significantly boosting the county's commercial tax revenues while creating jobs.
"If, at a minimum, these guys bring in 400 high-paying, career-sustaining, family-sustaining jobs, that makes them the largest employer in Northeastern Kentucky, easily," he says. "That's pretty good opportunity."
McNeill says the county badly needs more tax revenue for schools and infrastructure like roads and water facilities. Plus, he says, the presence of the proposed 2.2 gigawatt data center could be a career pipeline for the county's high school graduates.
'Knee-jerk reaction'
The county approved zoning for the project in May despite some controversy. There are concerns about impact on electricity rates, water usage and noise.
A group called "We are Mason County, Kentucky" has filed a lawsuit over the county's zoning vote, saying the approval process was rushed and the county's comprehensive plan doesn't consider data centers.
Max Moran raises livestock and helped file the lawsuit. He points out Mason County already has land zoned for industrial use that could use for something like a data center instead of taking farm and residential land. He also says homeowners near the site didn't sign on to live next to a data center with diesel backup generators and the noise associated with them.
"The one issue that we're arguing is that planning must supersede zoning at every turn," Moran says. "Right now, that's not happening. They're just doing this knee-jerk reaction."
Judge/Executive McNeill says Mason County has to move quickly because it's competing with other regions for the project. He says he's sympathetic to people like Helphenstine who have to move, but it's her landlord's right to sell, and the county can't stay dependent on agriculture.
"Gone are the days larger swaths of tobacco [could] put two or three children in a family through college," he says. "That said, Mason County has deep roots in the agrarian world and I think this project can be used to bolster those."
Crucial details
Alison Davis is a professor of Agricultural Economy at the University of Kentucky. She also directs Blueprint Kentucky, which helped Mason County draw up its comprehensive plan two years ago. She says the county does need to diversify its economy but concedes data centers don't always guarantee big economic benefits. Most centers' economic impacts "aren't huge," she says.
She points out developing data centers on farm or residential land generally isn't reversible without expensive environmental remediation, which is not an easy task.
Davis says whether the big, near-permanent change this specific project in Mason County could entail will be worth it hinges on the as-yet unconfirmed details of the deal.
"If it's such that the company is paying for all of its infrastructure and they're paying their taxes from day one at the full rate, that's a huge benefit for the community," she notes. "I don't think we'll know that until we get further down the road and we see what is actually part of that agreement."
Back in her mobile home, Helphanstine compares the coming data center to another massive economic change: the railroads that came through Kentucky in the 19th century. They changed the area's economy and brought prosperity for some. However, she points out they also eliminated some people's homes and farms forever. She feels the same is now happening to her.
"It's like, 'I don't care what your situation is, I want you off of here,' " she laments.
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