The Daily Independent

06/02/2026

06/02/2026

Sean Borst and Allorah Henson were among those who spoke during Community Comment of the Boyd County Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday. Coverage of data centers and more to come throughout the week.

06/02/2026

Russell’s city council conducted a 42-minute meeting to discuss how to handle the prospect of data centers coming to its city, specifically the old AK Steel site (West Works), owned by Cleveland Cliffs. The council could not take action given it was a special meeting, but they talked about putting a “pause” (moratorium) on potential data centers so they could do their “due diligence” and gather facts, while reviewing zoning ordinances. They will likely take action at their next regular meeting, scheduled for Thursday, June 25, at 6 p.m.

06/02/2026

A few pages from today’s edition!

06/02/2026

City of Russell council special meeting at 10 a.m. On the agenda: Discussion of AI data center … more to come.

06/02/2026

More than 400 people poured into the Boyd County Community Center for a three-hour town hall Monday night to express concerns, ask questions and listen to local leaders (mainly Judges-Executive Bobby Hall and Eric Chaney) regarding the TeraWulf Muskie Data Campus coming to EastPark. TeraWulf has purchased the 285-acre site, which has been vacant for 28 years, for $6.5 million.
The data center will eventually be a 1-gigawatt facility by 2030, according to the plan.
It will create the opportunity for hundreds of construction jobs while being built and up to 300 permanent jobs once constructed (according to Chaney).
Twenty-five residents spoke last night. About 50 had signed up.
Another public town hall is set for June 17. TeraWulf and Kentucky Power are scheduled to be on hand for that one. Time and place to be announced.

Much more to come in upcoming editions of The Daily Independent and at dailyindependent.com

05/31/2026

Section fronts from the Weekend edition:

05/29/2026

Kentucky Power assures protections for residents in Q&A
By Aaron Snyder
The Daily Independent
After TeraWulf announced a data center is coming to 285 acres of land in EastPark Tuesday, The Daily Independent submitted five questions to Kentucky Power regarding the subject.

Q: What makes EastPark suitable for TeraWulf's project?

A; EastPark is an established industrial site in Kentucky Power's service territory with access to electric infrastructure and within close proximity to 765 kV transmission lines. Questions about why TeraWulf selected the site should be directed to TeraWulf.

Q: Will this data center help Kentucky Power meet the goals it sought to achieve with its recent PSC rate request?

A: Kentucky Power's recent rate request was about maintaining and operating the electric system that serves customers today. That included everyday costs like poles, wires, substations, vegetation management and reliability work across our service area.

The TeraWulf project is separate from that process and is still years away from operation. Like any large industrial customer, projects like this can provide long-term economic and system benefits over time by adding significant electric demand to the system. But the important point is that the customer will be served under Kentucky Power's approved industrial tariff structure with protections designed so existing customers are not subsidizing the project.

Q: How will this data center impact residential power rates in Boyd, Greenup and surrounding counties?

A: The customer will pay under Kentucky Power's approved industrial tariff, not a special discounted rate. The tariff includes protections such as long-term contracts, minimum billing obligations and financial security requirements. Those protections are intended to keep existing residential and business customers from subsidizing the project.

To ensure our customers understand the safeguards already in place and also how data centers can support long-term affordability we recently published a webpage explaining this information: https://www.kentuckypower.com/company/about/rates/data-centers.

Q: In states with high data center volume, electricity prices have increased. How can Kentucky Power assure residents this won't happen here?

A: That is exactly why the tariff structure matters. Kentucky Power's approach is that large-load customers must pay their own way. They are served under approved tariffs with safeguards designed to protect existing customers from being left with costs caused by a large new load.

We also plan through the regulatory process, not around it. Any major infrastructure or generation need must be reviewed through the appropriate planning and approval channels.

Q: How would a power outage at a data center of this magnitude impact the surrounding area?

A: Large customers are served through planned infrastructure designed to protect the reliability of the broader system. Kentucky Power's team of engineers studies large-load connections before service begins so the system can be designed to operate safely and reliably. The goal is to serve the customer without compromising service to surrounding homes and businesses.

05/29/2026

Data center town hall Monday
By Aaron Snyder
The Daily Independent
CATLETTSBURG Boyd County Judge-Executive Eric Chaney released a video on social media Friday announcing a town hall meeting Monday from 6-8 p.m. at the Boyd County Convention and Arts Center regarding the recent announcement of a data center coming to the area.

TeraWulf announced Tuesday an eventual 1-gigawatt data center is coming to 285 acres of land at EastPark Industrial Park.

Both support and backlash — but mostly the latter — from the community surfaced on social media as many reactions poured in instantly.

A large portion of the public seemed upset by not knowing anything about the potential of a data center until Tuesday’s announcement.

Chaney, Greenup County Judge-Executive Bobby Hall and Northeast Kentucky Economic Development Authority Director Hunter Boyd all spoke about non-disclosure agreements, and how they play a crucial role in businesses ultimately finalizing deals to locate in a certain area.

NDAs are a “very common approach to business dealings,” Chaney said in Friday’s video. “Many projects at one point or another fell under NDAs — Camp Landing, Revolutionary Racing horse track and projects that are currently in progress.”

Chaney said this decision was a collaborative effort to provide a future to a site that has sat empty since its five-county creation eight years ago.

“Whether we agree or disagree with data centers, the fact is that they exist in our world,” Chaney said. “I would much rather have five counties a seat at the table working a deal on public industrial land where we were able to have input instead of a data center going right up the road and buying any piece of prime, private farm land and building without any input or control from any of our counties.”

Chaney said he understands area residents’ concerns and the fear of the unknown.

According to Chaney, Monday’s meeting is for all counties in the FIVCO region — Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Greenup and Lawrence. Multiple judges-executive from the FIVCO area and representatives from EastPark will be in attendance, he said. He said factual information will be provided.

“You will find the major concerns regarding power, water and environmental, were not only a top priority in our conversations with TeraWulf, but that TeraWulf far exceeded those expectations,” Chaney said.

TeraWulf also plans to host town hall forums of its own in coming weeks, he said.

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05/28/2026

Here’s a look at a few pages of today’s edition!