Project Bluegrass (Panattoni data center near Burgin)
Also called: Project Bluegrass, Panattoni Burgin data center
Panattoni wants to build a data center campus called Project Bluegrass on farmland next to the small city of Burgin. It could grow to 1,300 megawatts. The plan depends on Burgin annexing about 500 acres, which would let it avoid the county's new pause on data centers. A local group, We Are Mercer County, opposes it.
Where things stand: Developer wants the city of Burgin to annex about 500 acres of farmland. Annexation got a first reading in July 2026 but no final vote as of late September 2026.
🕒 Latest update (Sept 2026): A Burgin council member walked out of a meeting, which kept the council from voting on the annexation.
What we know
- 📍 WhereFarmland just north of Burgin (proposed to be annexed into the city), Unincorporated Mercer County, Mercer County
- 🏢 CompanyPanattoni Data Centers
- 🏛️ Owned byPanattoni
- 🌳 Size950 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs1,300 megawatts (about as much as 1,040,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromKentucky Utilities / LG&E, under their data center rate rules.
- ❄️ Coolingclosed-loop cooling (developer's statement)
- 👷 Jobs promised100
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Will Burgin City Council give final approval to the annexation? 🙋 I'll find out
- Which tech company would use Project Bluegrass? 🙋 I'll find out
- How much water will it use, and from which water utility? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- July 2026Burgin City Council gave a first reading, 3-2, to an ordinance to annex the land.
- Aug 2026Panattoni posted new details: four buildings on a 950-acre site, with less than half of it built on, and closed-loop cooling.
- Aug 12, 2026Mercer County Fiscal Court passed a one-year pause on data center applications in unincorporated areas. It does not cover land inside Burgin. The developer filed a new annexation request the same day.
- Sept 2026A Burgin council member walked out of a meeting, which kept the council from voting on the annexation.
Local votes and rules
📌 Other
Burgin City Council has been weighing a plan to annex farmland north of the city so Panattoni Data Centers can build a hyperscale data center ('Project Bluegrass'). An earlier annexation of over 1,000 acres in July 2026 was voided. At a later meeting, council members left, so there were too few to vote on annexation. The council also moved, on the mayor's tie-breaking vote, toward joining a planning commission. The annexation is not final.
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
Mercer County Fiscal Court unanimously passed a one-year pause on data centers outside city limits. It does not reach land the city of Burgin may annex for Panattoni Data Centers' planned 'Project Bluegrass' hyperscale data center. The court first approved the idea on July 28, 2026.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Mercer County Fiscal Court approves motion for data center moratorium · WKYT · July 29, 2026
- A Kentucky county passes a data center moratorium — with a city-sized hole · WKMS (Kentucky Lantern) · Aug 12, 2026
- Panattoni shares new details on Mercer County data center · Spectrum News 1 · Aug 24, 2026
- Burgin city council votes to take next step on joining planning commission amid data center debate · LEX 18 · 2026
- Mercer County officials reject regulations to allow data centers next to coal-fired power plant · WEKU · Sept 30, 2026
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