# Boone County, Kentucky: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Florence, Union and Walton The data center boom is not abstract in Boone County: it is on the ground here. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 3 data centers in Boone County, 5% of Kentucky's total. Boone County is home to Florence, Union and most of Walton (5,497 of its 5,868 residents). The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “County moratorium on data centers through June 15, 2027”. Electrical contractors employ 392, up 28.9% since 2019 against up 22.8% statewide, at an average $91,088 a year. Employers here counted 105,521 jobs in 2025, up 10.6% from 2019. 3 data centers on the SAVRN Data Center Map, 5% of Kentucky's +28.9% electrical contractor jobs since 2019, now 392 +10.6% total jobs since 2019, now 105,521 ## Cities and towns in Boone County Boone County is home to Florence, Union and most of Walton (5,497 of its 5,868 residents). Florence34,018 residents Union7,937 residents Walton5,497 residents · 94% of the city - Walton also extends into [Kenton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/kenton-county). Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Belleview, Burlington, Francisville, Hebron, Oakbrook, Petersburg, Rabbit Hash, Verona. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Boone County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kentucky | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 136,472 | 145,316 | ▲ 6.5% | 5th of 120 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 95,429 | 105,521 | ▲ 10.6% | 26th of 120 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $48,560 | $60,495 | ▲ 24.6% | — | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 304 | 392 | ▲ 28.9% | — | | Electric utility jobs (2019 → 2025) | 190 | 214 | ▲ 12.6% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.3% | 3.6% | ▲ 0.3pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 2 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Its power plants have 780 MW of capacity, 99% of it coal. 2 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. Duke Energy Kentucky is the largest utility serving Boone County, one of 2 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 13.44¢/kWh in 2024. 145,316 people live here, up 6.5% since 2020, 5th of 120 Kentucky counties by population. Unemployment was 3.6% in August 2026, against 3.3% in 2019. ## Who powers Boone County ### Utilities with service territory in Boone County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Duke Energy Kentucky | Investor Owned | Bundled | 139,405 | 13.44¢ | 44% | | Owen Electric Coop Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 63,984 | 12.55¢ | 7% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Coal | 772 MW | 99% | | Other technologies | 5 MW | 1% | | Solar | 3 MW | 0% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | East Bend | Duke Energy Kentucky Inc | Coal | 772 MW | 1981 | | Bavarian LFGTE | East Kentucky Power Coop, Inc | Other technologies | 5 MW | 2003 | | Aero Solar Facility | Duke Energy Kentucky Inc | Solar | 2 MW | 2023 | | L'Oreal Solar - Florence | L'Oreal USA Products Inc | Solar | 1 MW | 2017 | ## The Boone County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 105,521 | $60,495 | 1.00 | | Electrical contractors | 392 | $91,088 | 0.52 | | Electric utilities | 214 | $122,535 | 0.75 | | Data processing and hosting | 183 | $71,261 | 0.56 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Boone County 3 data centers in Boone County are on the SAVRN Data Center Map. ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | County moratorium on data centers through June 15, 2027 | In force | 2026-06 | ## Boone County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Boone County, Hamilton County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Boone County | 145,316 | ▲ 10.6% | 780 MW | — | 3 | 1 | | Dearborn County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/indiana/dearborn-county) IN | 51,609 | ▲ 4.7% | 1,232 MW | — | — | 1 | | Gallatin County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/gallatin-county) | 8,840 | ▼ 0.3% | — | — | — | — | | Grant County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/grant-county) | 26,181 | ▲ 11.6% | 3 MW | — | — | — | | Hamilton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/hamilton-county) OH | 838,418 | ▼ 1.2% | 1,238 MW | — | 13 | — | | Kenton County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/kenton-county) | 175,779 | ▲ 10.9% | 5 MW | — | — | — | | Ohio County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/indiana/ohio-county) IN | 5,994 | ▼ 14.5% | — | — | — | — | | Switzerland County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/indiana/switzerland-county) IN | 10,037 | ▼ 22.5% | 78 MW | — | — | 1 | ## More of Kentucky [All Kentucky countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky)[Kenton County175,779 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/kenton-county)[Grant County26,181 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/grant-county)[Gallatin County8,840 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/gallatin-county) ## Boone County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Boone County, Kentucky? 2 utilities have service territory in Boone County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Duke Energy Kentucky, Owen Electric Coop Inc. The largest, Duke Energy Kentucky, charged residential customers 13.44¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What county is Florence, KY in? Florence is in Boone County, Kentucky. About 34,018 people live there (2025 Census estimate). ### What power plants are in Boone County? 4 operating plants with 780 MW of capacity. The largest is East Bend (772 MW, coal). ### Are there data centers in Boone County? Yes. The SAVRN Data Center Map lists 3 data centers in Boone County. ### Is Boone County adding jobs? Employers counted 105,521 jobs in 2025 against 95,429 in 2019 (+10.6%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Boone County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Boone County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/boone-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).