The total of $206,000 makes the union the fourth-largest donor to the PAC since Beshear created it shortly after his reelection as governor in 2023. The donations come amid growing public concern that communities will suffer from the massive amounts of natural resources required by hyperscale data centers. The governor recently issued an executive order, saying it will protect the public from data center harms.
Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, pointed out that specifics on how the facilities should be taxed are not defined in the order.
"The governor has a role in a lot of this stuff, but some of it depends as well on the Cabinet for Economic Development awarding the subsidies, but also the legislature and what they decide to do moving forward," Bailey explained.
The union said it strongly supports data centers because they require the employment of large numbers of electricians. It called for centers to be built and operated responsibly, with strong protections for workers and their communities. The organization has long been a big donor to pro-labor political committees in Kentucky and across the country. It also gave big to a super PAC supporting Beshear’s reelection campaign in 2023.
Pam Thomas, senior policy director at the center, explained that state law currently includes an exemption for manufacturing facilities using a lot of energy, which data centers do and will. She called the exemption a huge draw for companies seeking to build data centers in the Commonwealth.
"To the extent that their energy expenses are more than 3% of their gross production costs, they don't have to pay the sales tax on the amount over that," Thomas noted.
A report released last year by the American Edge Project, an advocacy group with close ties to social media and tech industries, said data centers are expected to create around nearly 5 million temporary construction jobs and nearly 700,000 permanent jobs.
This story is based on original reporting by Tom Loftus for the Kentucky Lantern.
