Bell County passed a data center moratorium. Resident worry that work continues.

But last month, the Bell County fiscal court, hearing backlash from local residents concerned about environmental impacts of the project among other concerns, passed a two-year temporary ban or moratorium on data center construction. WKYT reported that Dale Murray, the owner of Murray Industries, also spoke advocating for the jobs and investment the project could create. 

Murray reportedly said that electric utility Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities had 360 megawatts of “additional capacity” to use of electricity near the site. 

Tom Wright, the owner of Tom Wright Construction in Pikeville, told the Lantern Monday afternoon that Dale Murray asked him to go to the Bell County site with the goal of “clearing the brush and doing some site work.” Wright said he did not recall whether Murray specifically told him what was planned for the site, but he was aware it was for a data center project.

Wright said he visited the site on Friday to inspect it before he potentially moved equipment on site, and that’s when a local resident informed him of the moratorium.

“I don’t want to be the guy to come up in there and then get run off,” Wright said. “I don’t want to move a bunch of equipment in there and then somebody come in there and say, ‘Hey, you can’t work.’” 

Wright said he was “not coming up here to cause anybody any problems” and that he was going to do his best “to keep the peace.” 

Gregory Jackson, the chief legal officer for Murray Industries, did not respond to phone calls and emails from the Lantern Monday requesting an interview about Wright’s comments and the status of the Murray Industries project.

Bell County Judge-Executive Albey Brock did not respond to emails and phone calls from the Lantern Monday requesting interviews about the status of the Murray Industries project. In an email, Bell County Deputy Judge-Executive Rob Lincks said Brock was on vacation.

Emily Diaz, a local resident whose family lives next to the proposed data center site, believes continuing site work on the property would violate the county’s ban. The site had extensive amounts of land cleared before the county moratorium passed. 

Diaz, among the local residents strongly opposed to the data center project, told the Lantern all the work done by Dale Murray so far “has been in furtherance of that data center.”

“I would think he would be extremely hard pressed to argue that suddenly he has an interest in clearing the land for some other reason than a data center,” Diaz said. 

Bell County Attorney Chris Douglas told the Lantern in a Monday phone interview he had been in contact with Diaz and the county sheriff’s office. He said if there are “boots on the ground” of workers making improvements to the site for the purpose of constructing a data center, it would violate the county moratorium.

A recent state filing by Kentucky’s largest electric utility also appears to indicate the utility believes the hyperscale data center project is still moving forward. 

In a written update to the Kentucky Public Service Commission on Friday, LG&E and KU wrote it considered an economic development project — called the “Pineville project” with an electricity usage of 360 megawatts — to have at least an 80% or “imminent” likelihood of coming into operation. Pineville is the Bell County seat. 

LG&E and KU wrote to the state utility regulator that the companies involved were in “detailed discussions with the potential end user” and that electrical substation construction “has commenced at the project site.” The utility also wrote that a reimbursement agreement “has been executed” with a tenant agreement in the works. 

Liz Pratt, an LG&E and KU spokesperson, did not answer Lantern questions seeking confirmation that the “Pineville project” was the Murray Industries development. She said the utility couldn’t comment on specific projects and that questions regarding local zoning and permitting were best directed to local authorities.

In an emailed statement, Pratt said the utility considered the Pineville project to be “imminent” because the utility has performed all necessary studies including having a reimbursement agreement and a transmission service request completed.

“Many of these projects have the potential to create jobs, expand the local tax base, and support economic growth in the communities we serve. Our role is to determine whether our electric system can safely and reliably support new or increased energy demand and to plan accordingly while maintaining safe, reliable service for all customers, consistent with regulatory requirements,” Pratt said.