Meta data center Kentucky: Mason County approves 396 MW first phase

The Mason County Fiscal Court voted unanimously on October 14 to make Meta Platforms the developer behind a hyperscale data center campus near Maysville, Kentucky, approving an initial $10 billion first phase that county officials say could reach $800 billion across five phases over 40 years. The first step is a single 396 megawatt data center on roughly 2,900 acres, with construction expected to begin within 36 months of the agreement, according to the county's release and a summary document dated October 6.

Meta was revealed as the tenant behind the Maysville project that the county rezoned from agricultural to rural industrial use earlier this year. The company will develop the campus through a single-purpose entity called Crisham LLC, and the project will be financed through industrial revenue bonds issued by the county, with Meta responsible for the debt, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Related reading: Google Locks In 702 MW of Fuel-Cell Power From AEP for Its AI Data Centers.

The numbers attach to a plan the county frames as a decades-long build-out rather than a single shovel. The October 6 summary document describes the first phase as one 396 MW data center and related facilities on approximately 2,900 acres, with subsequent buildings each taking about two years to complete once phase one begins. Local attorney Jim Parsons told WKYT the initial investment is around $15 billion, while the county's news release puts the opening capital figure at $10 billion; both sit inside the 40-year ceiling of $800 billion that Judge-Executive Owen McNeill and county officials have cited.

The power side is where the market shoves most of the cost. Meta will pay for all grid upgrades the project needs, including new lines and substations, and East Kentucky Power Cooperative will supply the load under a data center tariff the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved last year. Nick Comer, the co-op's external affairs manager, said the tariff includes protections to ensure data centers pay their own way. Power reliability has become the binding constraint on hyperscale site selection as 1 gigawatt campuses have multiplied, and this deal follows the same template: the tenant bears the interconnect cost and buys under a rate structure regulators pre-cleared.

Related reading: Who Pays for the Datacenters: Debt, Leases and the Hidden Cost of AI Capex.

The water piece is equally concrete. Meta will spend $115 million or more on local infrastructure, per the county release, including $45 million toward a new regional water treatment plant that will be matched by a state appropriation, $40 million to the city of Maysville for pipeline and pump station work, and $15 million to Western Mason Water District for pipeline construction and a storage tank.

Employment and tax flows give the county its political case. The center would employ at least 100 people initially and up to 400 at full build-out, with more than 2,000 skilled trade workers on site at peak construction and 4,000 or more during later phases. Under the agreement Meta is exempt from property taxes and instead makes payments in lieu of taxes: the county would receive $5 million per year per phase, or $30 million per year at full build-out, while Mason County Schools would get $2 million per year per phase plus an additional $10 million per year per phase from the 3% energy tax. The county estimates the project could generate up to $60 million a year for the school system and as much as $26 million per year for the county, on top of a one-time $15 million public safety impact fee.

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What the county approved and what the market priced are not the same thing. The resolution authorizes a first phase, not a guaranteed build-out; the $800 billion figure is a potential across a 40-year agreement, and the project remains contingent on the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority board approving incentives, McNeill said. The immediate metric the market will track is the 396 MW first phase and whether the power and water agreements close. Meta's decision to anchor its first major Kentucky campus here signals that hyperscalers still see the Ohio Valley's access to regulated power and rail as a competitive site, even as financing costs for AI infrastructure have repriced sharply over the past week.

The next dated catalyst is the KEDFA incentive decision, which must land before construction can start, and the county has said the first phase is forecast to begin within 36 months of signing. Local opposition has already formed, with the community group We Are Mason County scheduling a meeting on October 18 to air concerns, and lawsuits challenging the county's process have been filed. Meta said in a statement to the Maysville Ledger-Independent that it would keep showing up and listening as the potential project moves forward. For investors, the Kentucky commitment is one more lane in Meta's data center map, this one sitting squarely inside the Midwest power corridor where the AI build-out is testing grid capacity and utility tariffs at the same time.

Related reading: AI Data Center Orders Reach 100 MW, but Plans Are Not Demand.

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