MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Data centers have generated opposition all over the country. In eastern Kentucky, though, some communities are actively pursuing them, or at least they're open to them. They hope data centers can make up for the decline of coal and counter rising electricity prices. Curtis Tate with member station WEKU has the story.
CURTIS TATE, BYLINE: Up an eastern Kentucky holler near the city of Pikeville, Trissia Scott runs the Thankful Hearts Food Pantry. She and her volunteers, including three men named Kenny, distribute food to local seniors.
TRISSIA SCOTT: Who has the keys, guys? Kenny?
TATE: She wants to check on the freezers. Her electric bills for the pantry have more than doubled in recent months. She says they're up to $2,000, which she scraped together from donations.
SCOTT: I don't have enough to pay December, January, February, the bad months, so we're still asking people if they could go to the GoFundMe and help us if they can.
TATE: In this rural area, Kentucky Power customers pay some of the highest bills in the state. That's because for years now, coal mines have closed along with the steel mill. That caused a big drop in demand for Kentucky Power. Residents are leaving the region, too, reducing the number of customers who pay for electricity. Scott says she's paying more at her house, too.
SCOTT: My own home went up over $200. So everybody - 'cause we have people every day needing help for their power bills. And it's just going to get worse.
TATE: But Kentucky Power says a data center project could turn things around.
SARAH LYNCH: What this really is is potentially a transformational opportunity for eastern Kentucky.
TATE: That's Sarah Lynch, a spokeswoman for Kentucky Power. The company is building new transmission infrastructure to serve what will be called the Muskie Data Campus. Data center developer TeraWulf will pay for those upgrades instead of residential customers. Lynch says the Maryland-based company has also agreed to pay for a new power plant, which will generate additional jobs and tax revenues.
LYNCH: Bringing on a large-load customer like this is a really amazing game changer for us and for our customers.
TATE: Local officials have been supportive of data center development because of the region's economic needs. While some officials have signed nondisclosure agreements that have raised concerns about transparency, the city of Pikeville has taken a different approach.
REGGIE HICKMAN: For us, we immediately went to the public and said, you know, we're concerned about the same things you are.
TATE: Reggie Hickman is Pikeville's city manager. The city did not negotiate in secret with data center developers, nor is it offering any property tax breaks. And he says they have been open about water and electricity use and air and noise pollution.
HICKMAN: That whole litany of things that the public's concerned about, we are, too. We live here, too.
TATE: Pike County lost 300 jobs earlier this year when a coal producer closed. A data center, Hickman says, can replace some of the taxes it got from coal, if not the number of jobs. He says Pikeville could soon reach a deal for a data center, which may eventually lower electricity bills. Back at the food pantry, Scott is looking ahead one month at a time.
SCOTT: We've got, like, 11 freezers and the walk-in cooler right now, and they have to go all the time because we get donated foods from stores. But also, we're trying to get donations for turkeys for Thanksgiving meals.
TATE: Those freezers run on electricity, and she's not yet sure how she's going to pay the next bill. For NPR News, I'm Curtis Tate in Pikeville, Kentucky.
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