A new data center could be coming to Kentucky.

According to reporting from WYMT, the Appalachian Industrial Development Authority (AIDA) has signed a deal with Diversified Gas and Oil Corporation and local real estate developer Maverick Holdings to potentially purchase a 100-acre plot at the Gateway Business Park in Letcher County, Eastern Kentucky.

The news was revealed by Colby Kirk, president and CEO of the privately funded regional economic development organization One East Kentucky.

“Data centers are getting a lot of attention, just in general right now. It is important to note this project is very early in the process of where it’s at. The documents that have been shared from the industrial authority include a joint development agreement,” he said.

Reports suggest that the project is in the early stages of planning, with work currently ongoing to explore the possibility of onsite power generation. Kirk suggests that the developers' long-term goal is to build a site with a self-sufficient energy supply to directly power a data center. It is unclear what form of onsite generation the developers would deploy.

“And that’s still where the project is right now. You know, there’s a lot of engineering work that’s being looked at. It’s still determining the feasibility for generating power at this industrial park,” Kirk said.

As of yet, no company has been targeted for the site because the plot has not yet been deemed viable for development. However, Kirk claimed that the development body had been “inundated” with companies looking for space.

Reports state that the city of Jenkins local authority was not involved in the planning. However, it is claimed that city officials are part of the development authority that approved the agreement.

AIDA is a regional economic entity. It is the primary developer of the Gateway Industrial Park, where the data center could be built. The plot of land spans 260 acres in total and is served by a 69kV transmission line operated by AEP Kentucky and is also connected to the natural gas network via Kentucky Frontier Gas.

The Kentucky data center market is growing in stature, with several developments underway across the state. The most notable is TeraWulf’s under-development 401MW Justified Data campus in Hawesville, Kentucky, which is tied to a 20-year $19 billion lease agreement with AI lab Anthropic.