In June, the mayor of Russell was informed about a potential major development in his community. A company based in Barcelona expressed interest in establishing a two-gigawatt data center on the site of the former AK Steel facility. This significant announcement came through an email from a consultant. The consultant raised important concerns, particularly about a moratorium recently enacted by Russell, which could pose obstacles to the development.
This project, valued between $8 and $12 billion, aims to use over ten percent of Kentucky’s summer electricity capacity. The Kentucky Lantern highlighted this development in a report from July.