As the push to build data centers accelerates, Central Kentucky companies and utilities are working to adapt.
Recently, Gray Construction and Valvoline Global announced a partnership to develop methods for managing the excessive heat generated by computer systems and related components through liquid cooling. By combining Gray’s experience in integrated design-build and facility delivery with Valvoline’s expertise in coolants and thermal-management fluids, the companies aim to help owners plan for the increasingly complex cooling demands of data centers.
Larger hyperscale data centers handling advanced functions such as cloud computing, cryptocurrency mining, and AI content generation can house between 2,000 and 5,000 servers — row after row of high-performance machines that generate significant heat and must be kept within strict operating thresholds to avoid overheating. In many cases, that demand exceeds what traditional air-cooling systems can efficiently support, pushing operators toward liquid-based cooling solutions.
“Because chip thermal design power has increased so significantly, you have to use liquid cooling,” George Zhang, vice president of research and design at Valvoline Global, said. “You need a way to remove heat to protect chip integrity and prevent thermal throttling — and the right fluid strategy is central to making that work reliably, long term.”
Enter Gray and Valvoline, which together are making the case for incorporating liquid cooling from the outset rather than retrofitting later. In their white paper, “Building & Designing Data Centers for the Shift to Liquid Cooling,” the companies emphasize the need to plan now for a hybrid future in which air-cooled and liquid-cooled systems operate side by side. Aligning design, procurement, and fluid strategy early, they argue, can reduce long-term risk.
“The shift to liquid cooling isn’t a future consideration — it’s happening now. The owners who move with intention and urgency will be the ones with the most options tomorrow,” Ben Burgett, vice president of data centers for Gray, said. “Our focus is on making sure our customers don’t have to choose between speed and flexibility. We bring the delivery capability to move fast and the integrated expertise to make sure the decisions made early hold up over the life of the facility.”
Gray Construction and Valvoline Global have teamed up to provide liquid-cooling solutions designed to keep data center computing components within safe operating thresholds.
That technological shift is unfolding against a backdrop of rapid growth in data center development across Kentucky, where demand for processing power — and the energy required to sustain it — is rising just as quickly.
The state is seeing a surge in proposed projects, particularly near Louisville and in Northern Kentucky. Driven by cloud computing and artificial intelligence, the expansion has raised concerns among consumers about potential increases in energy costs and water usage. Kentucky currently has 36 data centers, including three in Lexington and 22 in Louisville, according to DataCenters.com.
As of April, at least three additional projects are planned statewide, with total capacity exceeding 880 megawatts. Some of those developments are expected to strain the power grid, with Louisville Gas & Electric projecting a 20 to 30 percent increase in demand.
That growth could have downstream effects on utility bills. According to the Kentucky League of Cities, recent studies suggest data centers can drive higher electricity costs. A May 2025 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found that utility bills in Ohio would increase by an average of $16 per month due to capacity demands from data centers.
Don Mosier, president and CEO of the Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative, said data centers are becoming as essential to communities as hospitals and manufacturers.
“Because of their role in digital computing, data centers are as vital to our nation’s economy as factories, stores, and office buildings,” he said in a statement. “They will create new jobs, provide new investment in Kentucky’s communities, and generate tax revenue to support schools, roads, and other basic services. They will provide opportunities for Kentucky communities, many of which need a boost.”
Mosier said data centers could strengthen electric cooperatives’ financial positions, potentially easing pressure to raise rates. A recent study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he said, found that large energy users such as data centers can help lower electricity prices for residents and businesses.
Electric cooperatives are prepared not only to supply power to data centers, he said, but also to ensure those costs are not passed on to other customers.
“Any new data centers sited in territories served by EKPC’s owner-member cooperatives will pay their own way. They will not pass along their costs to, or raise the rates paid by, our owner-members,” he said. “EKPC has established rules that require data centers to pay for any new needed power plants and transmission infrastructure. These additional facilities will help build a stronger electric grid.”
Efforts to formalize those protections in state law, however, fell short this year.
Legislation aimed at shielding Kentucky ratepayers from data center-driven cost increases was expected to pass the General Assembly in April, but failed in the final days of the session.
A bill sponsored by state Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, would have established guardrails requiring large data centers to cover infrastructure costs tied to their energy needs. The House passed the bill in February on a 90-8 vote, but it stalled in the Senate.
The bill’s provisions were added as an amendment to Senate Bill 197. The measure was later sent back to the House Budget Committee without the data center language. On the last day of the session, SB 197 cleared the House without those provisions and returned to the Senate, where it passed and was sent to Gov. Andy Beshear for his signature.