HB 593 Kentucky House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT relating to data centers.

Summary
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 96 relating to municipal utilities and KRS Chapter 278 relating to Public Service Commission-regulated utilities to: define terms; only allow for the provision of electric service to a data center through a contract that conforms to the requirements of the Act; require that within 90 days of the effective date of the Act, the electric service provider issue or file a tariff setting forth the process for a data center customer to apply for service; require the payment of a nonrefundable service application fee; require the preparation of studies to determine the manner in which the electric service provider can safely and efficiently serve the data center in a way that does not have negative service or rate impacts to their non-data center customers; establish the minimum contract requirements between the electric service provider and the data center customer; provide that requirements of the Act that are conflict with the Tennessee Valley Authority's requirements for the distribution of electricity that it supplies shall not apply; prohibit the charging or allocating of any costs associated with serving or constructing new infrastructure to serve a data center to any other customers served by natural gas, water, or wastewater utilities; amend KRS 154.20-229 to require that a qualified data center project that has been preliminarily approved for a certificate of exemption under KRS 139.499 include in its memorandum of agreement with the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority a certification that the data center project complies or will comply with all applicable local requirements and the applicable requirements of the Act.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 6, 2026 Last action Mar 31, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Current/Final · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to extend the timeline for utilities to prepare service plans from 90 to 180 days and to change the type of studies required from 'resource' studies to 'load' studies. Additionally, the definition of a 'data center' was expanded to include facilities with a monthly load factor of 60% or greater, broadening the scope of facilities subject to these rules.
Scope change
The definition of a 'data center' was expanded to include centralized facilities with a monthly load factor of 60% or greater, in addition to previously approved qualified projects.
TIMELINE

The deadline for utilities to issue and maintain a tariff for data center service was extended from 90 days to 180 days after the act's effective date.

REQUIREMENT

The required studies for serving data centers were changed from 'resource' studies to 'load' studies, altering the technical analysis utilities must perform.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'data center' was expanded to include centralized facilities that have an expected or actual monthly load factor of 60% or greater.

Floor votes · House Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

958
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 105
Mar 4, 2026
D Democratic21
13 Yea 7 Nay 1
61% Yea
R Republican84
82 Yea 1 Nay 1
97% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
2
Committee
5
Mar 27, 2026
Committee
to Economic Development, Tourism, & Labor (S)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 90-8 with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
to Economic Development & Workforce Investment (H)
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.