**Rural Kentucky at the Crossroads: Local Families Challenge Data Centre Expansion**
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Across the United States, the rapid expansion of data centres is creating tensions within communities, and in a small corner of Kentucky, this issue is hitting home for the Huddleston and Bare families. Residing on their ancestral land in Maysville, they are facing pressures from Big Tech that could dramatically alter their way of life.
Delsia Bare, 54, recalls her childhood spent riding her horse across the family’s 1,200-acre farm, a routine that helped her connect with the land. “I have lived the dream of being a cowgirl my entire life,” she said nostalgically. Her family, who have farmed these fertile fields for over two centuries, has seen their land evolve from providing sustenance during the Great Depression to a potential epicentre for a new artificial intelligence data centre.
Bare’s mother, Ida Huddleston, 82, shares the sentiment of pride and connection to their land, where she has lived since marrying Bare’s father at a young age. The rolling green hills and pastures not only serve as agricultural land but also as a legacy that includes family graves, underpinning the deep emotional ties they have to the property. “We have fed a nation,” Bare declared emphatically. “It’s a wonderful place to live.”
However, their commitment to preserving the land for future generations was tested when the family turned down an astounding $26 million offer from a Fortune 100 company for half of the family’s property. This decision garnered national attention and positioned the family as unexpected advocates against the encroachment of large tech firms into rural landscapes.
The growing demand for AI technology has led to an explosive land-buying trend across the country, particularly targeting rural areas, where data centres can be set up without the complications faced in urban spaces. While these tech companies often tout the economic benefits—such as job creation and increased tax revenues—local residents are increasingly concerned about the environmental repercussions. Bare, like many others, worries about the detrimental effects on local ecosystems, natural resources, and the quality of life in their community, which houses over 4,000 data centres nationwide.
Erin Brockovich, the environmental advocate known for her activism, has taken a keen interest in the spread of data centres and has launched an initiative to map their locations. “Many of these issues arise at the local level. You’ve got to show up,” she advised. Both Bare and Huddleston have taken action by joining a lawsuit opposing the data centre development, highlighting the irreversible consequences such establishments may have on their community.
This intensifying battle began in early 2025 when offers for farmland began circulating in Mason County. Initial whispers of real estate agents offering $4,600 per acre soon transformed into jaw-dropping proposals of $48,000 per acre when property owners expressed disinterest. Despite Bare’s initial reluctance to engage with the corporate buyer, anxieties about potential eminent domain led her family to sign a contract. However, the family quickly realised their mistake and took steps to rescind their agreement, emphasising that the monetary gain would come at too great a cost.
Bare’s and Huddleston’s personal ties to the land run deep, particularly with Huddleston’s memories of raising her family there and the promise made to her late husband to maintain the family’s legacy. “My mother was saying, ‘I don’t want to leave my flower beds.’ I knew we had to fight to stay,” Bare reflected. Thankfully, legal guidance confirmed that they could not be forced to sell, yet the looming threat of the data centre still permeated the air.
In spite of their efforts, neighbouring properties were not as fortunate. The project has already begun to displace residents in a local mobile-home park, with many receiving eviction notices and grappling with the impending disruptions in their lives. Residents have expressed their distress over being uprooted from the only home they have known, with some expressing that they had intended to spend the remainder of their lives there.
As worries mount about the potential infrastructural demands of the 2.2-gigawatt facility, Bare is concerned about the additional power lines and gas infrastructures that may be required to fuel what she dubbed an “electricity-sucking monster.” In response to community apprehensions, local authorities, like Tyler McHugh from the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority, have made assurances regarding the responsibility of the tech company to fund all necessary local services, including roads and utilities.
Despite these assurances, Bare and Huddleston remain resolute in their opposition, joining with local residents and community groups, such as ‘We Are Mason County’, to fight against the encroaching data centre development. They filed a lawsuit in hopes of reversing any prior decisions made in favour of the project.
Although a court has allowed the zoning changes necessary for the data centre to proceed, Bare and Huddleston have no intention of leaving their land. Huddleston poignantly stated, “God gave the land to us to take care of, and that’s what we are doing.” Their story is emblematic of a larger struggle, one that pits the preservation of rural heritage against the relentless advance of technological infrastructure.