Bitcoin Mine Sparks Controversy in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Data Center Debate

A quiet bitcoin-mining operation in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, has drawn attention from local residents and officials as the city debates its first data center rules. The 15-megawatt facility at Holland Substation, owned by North Campbell Land Co., consists of 22 modular units housing specialized machines used to mine Bitcoin.

North Campbell Land Co. representative Thomas Masiero said that the existing site could eventually shift to computing work other than Bitcoin mining and proposed a 50-megawatt data center elsewhere in Hopkinsville, along with a new 65-megawatt substation that the company would fund itself at an estimated cost of $8 million to $10 million.

Residents expressed concerns about environmental and quality-of-life issues, while officials are drafting zoning amendments that would cap large-scale facilities below 75 megawatts and 50,000 square feet. The proposal also sets buffer distances for different facility sizes near homes or public properties.