# Laurel County, Kentucky: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to London Laurel County has more of its workforce in data processing and hosting than the country as a whole. Laurel County is home to London. Construction employs 962, up 43.6% since 2019. 4 MW has retired here since 2019, including Laurel Ridge LFGTE (other technologies, 4 MW, 2023). Its power plants have 70 MW of capacity, 100% of it hydro. Electrical contractors employ 230, at an average $145,952 a year. 4 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 70 MW of operating power plants, mostly hydro -1.7% total jobs since 2019, now 26,104 ## Cities and towns in Laurel County Laurel County is home to London. London7,637 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): East Bernstadt, North Corbin. 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 Laurel County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kentucky | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 62,733 | 63,746 | ▲ 1.6% | 15th of 120 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 26,559 | 26,104 | ▼ 1.7% | 91st of 120 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $36,913 | $50,304 | ▲ 36.3% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 670 | 962 | ▲ 43.6% | 13th of 55 by growth | | Power line construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 85 | 96 | ▲ 12.9% | — | | Data processing and hosting jobs (2019 → 2025) | 233 | 309 | ▲ 32.6% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.7% | 5.2% | ▲ 0.5pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 4 MW | | — | Unemployment was 5.2% in August 2026, against 4.7% in 2019. Employers here counted 26,104 jobs in 2025, down 1.7% from 2019. Kentucky Utilities Co is the largest utility serving Laurel County, one of 4 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 11.85¢/kWh in 2024, below the 13.21¢ median for Kentucky utilities. 63,746 people live here, up 1.6% since 2020. ## Who powers Laurel County ### Utilities with service territory in Laurel County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Kentucky Utilities Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 450,673 | 11.85¢ | 32% | | South Kentucky Rural E C C | Cooperative | Bundled | 64,877 | 12.92¢ | 8% | | Jackson Energy Coop Corp - (KY) | Cooperative | Bundled | 49,423 | 13.66¢ | 14% | | Cumberland Valley Electric, Inc. | Cooperative | Bundled | 22,478 | 12.87¢ | 28% | 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 | |---|---|---| | Hydro | 70 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Laurel Dam | USCE-Nashville District | Hydro | 70 MW | 1977 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Laurel Ridge LFGTE | Other technologies | 4 MW | 2023 | ## The Laurel County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 26,104 | $50,304 | 1.00 | | Construction | 962 | $74,739 | 0.70 | | Electrical contractors | 230 | $145,952 | 1.22 | | Power and communication line construction | 96 | $45,715 | 2.28 | | Data processing and hosting | 309 | $49,274 | 3.81 | 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 Laurel County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Laurel County. Kentucky has 44 local measures on record statewide. ## Laurel County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Laurel County, Pulaski 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Laurel County | 63,746 | ▼ 1.7% | 70 MW | — | — | — | | Clay County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/clay-county) | 19,465 | ▲ 4.4% | — | — | — | — | | Jackson County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/jackson-county) | 13,325 | ▲ 8.0% | — | — | — | — | | Knox County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/knox-county) | 29,532 | ▼ 4.2% | — | — | — | — | | McCreary County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/mccreary-county) | 17,124 | ▲ 5.0% | — | — | — | — | | Pulaski County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/pulaski-county) | 67,384 | ▲ 1.8% | 344 MW | — | — | — | | Rockcastle County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/rockcastle-county) | 16,148 | ▼ 0.1% | — | — | — | — | | Whitley County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/whitley-county) | 37,297 | ▲ 23.1% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Kentucky [All Kentucky countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky)[Pulaski County67,384 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/pulaski-county)[Whitley County37,297 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/whitley-county)[Knox County29,532 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/knox-county)[Clay County19,465 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/clay-county)[McCreary County17,124 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/mccreary-county) ## Laurel County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Laurel County, Kentucky? 4 utilities have service territory in Laurel County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Kentucky Utilities Co, South Kentucky Rural E C C, Jackson Energy Coop Corp - (KY), Cumberland Valley Electric, Inc.. The largest, Kentucky Utilities Co, charged residential customers 11.85¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Laurel County? 1 operating plant with 70 MW of capacity. The largest is Laurel Dam (70 MW, hydro). ### Are there data centers in Laurel County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Laurel County. ### Is Laurel County adding jobs? Employers counted 26,104 jobs in 2025 against 26,559 in 2019 (-1.7%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 670 to 962. ### Does Laurel County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Laurel County. Kentucky has 44 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/laurel-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/).