Kentucky farmers take on AI data-center boom – WSJ

A Rural US family has refused to sell their land for $26.5mn as a proposed hyperscale facility divided their community A farming family in rural America has rejected a multimillion-dollar offer to sell their land for a data center development, joining opposition to a rapid buildout of such facilities driven by the AI boom in the US.According to the Wall Street Journal, a mother and daughter from Maysville, Kentucky, were offered $26.48 million for roughly 216 hectares of farmland, nearly ten times its estimated open-market value.Delsia Bare, 54, and Ida Huddleston, 83, initially agreed to sell but reversed their decision after learning that their land would become part of a planned 2.2-gigawatt hyperscale data center. Such a facility could consume as much electricity as nearly two million average US homes.A Kentucky mother and daughter turned down a life-changing offer for their farmland. The ensuing drama has left the town divided. https://t.co/AsGn0ZVVHR— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 16, 2026The identity of the company behind the project was not disclosed, although evidence obtained through public records indicated it was Meta, the WSJ reported. Meta said that no decisio...