# Muhlenberg County, Kentucky: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Central City and Greenville Muhlenberg County is a power-producing county: the plants here serve load well beyond its borders. Muhlenberg County is home to Central City, Greenville and Powderly. 1,150 MW has retired here since 2019, including Paradise (coal, 1,150 MW, 2020). Construction employs 428, down 27.5% since 2019. Next door, Hopkins County has 1 data center and 225 MW of planned generation. 694 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly natural gas. 1,150 MW of generating capacity retired since 2019 1,854 MW of operating power plants, mostly natural gas -3.8% total jobs since 2019, now 7,845 ## Cities and towns in Muhlenberg County Muhlenberg County is home to Central City, Greenville and Powderly. Central City5,793 residents Greenville4,350 residents Powderly787 residents Drakesboro467 residents Bremen173 residents South Carrollton143 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Beechmont, Cleaton, Dunmor. 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 Muhlenberg County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kentucky | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 30,904 | 30,634 | ▼ 0.9% | 35th of 120 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 8,157 | 7,845 | ▼ 3.8% | 99th of 120 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $42,918 | $54,157 | ▲ 26.2% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 590 | 428 | ▼ 27.5% | 54th of 55 by growth | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 5.0% | 4.9% | ▼ 0.1pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 694 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 1,150 MW | | — | Its power plants have 1,854 MW of capacity, 100% of it natural gas, the 4th largest fleet in Kentucky. Employers here counted 7,845 jobs in 2025, down 3.8% from 2019. Kentucky Utilities Co is the largest utility serving Muhlenberg County, one of 3 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 11.85¢/kWh in 2024, below the 13.21¢ median for Kentucky utilities. Unemployment was 4.9% in August 2026, against 5.0% in 2019. 30,634 people live here, down 0.9% since 2020. ## Who powers Muhlenberg County ### Utilities with service territory in Muhlenberg 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% | | Kenergy Corp | Cooperative | Bundled | 47,292 | 15.15¢ | 6% | | Pennyrile Rural Electric Coop | Cooperative | Bundled | 40,645 | 13.16¢ | 26% | 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 | |---|---|---| | Natural gas | 1,854 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Paradise | Tennessee Valley Authority | Natural gas | 1,854 MW | 2017 | ### Retired since 2019 | Plant | Technology | MW | Year | |---|---|---|---| | Paradise | Coal | 1,150 MW | 2020 | ## The Muhlenberg County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 7,845 | $54,157 | 1.00 | | Construction | 428 | $94,376 | 1.03 | 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 Muhlenberg County No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Muhlenberg County. Kentucky has 44 local measures on record statewide, and 2 neighboring counties have one: [Butler County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/butler-county), [Logan County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/logan-county). ## Muhlenberg County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Muhlenberg County, Hopkins 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Muhlenberg County | 30,634 | ▼ 3.8% | 1,854 MW | — | — | — | | Butler County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/butler-county) | 12,520 | ▲ 2.9% | — | — | — | 2 | | Christian County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/christian-county) | 70,115 | ▲ 0.8% | — | — | 1 | — | | Hopkins County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/hopkins-county) | 45,127 | ▲ 4.2% | — | 225 MW | 1 | — | | Logan County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/logan-county) | 28,669 | ▼ 2.3% | 173 MW | — | 1 | 1 | | McLean County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/mclean-county) | 9,064 | ▼ 14.0% | — | — | — | — | | Ohio County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/ohio-county) | 23,934 | ▼ 5.3% | 509 MW | — | — | — | | Todd County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/todd-county) | 12,972 | ▲ 29.6% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Kentucky [All Kentucky countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky)[Christian County70,115 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/christian-county)[Hopkins County45,127 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/hopkins-county)[Logan County28,669 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/logan-county)[Ohio County23,934 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/ohio-county)[Todd County12,972 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/todd-county) ## Muhlenberg County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky? 3 utilities have service territory in Muhlenberg County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Kentucky Utilities Co, Kenergy Corp, Pennyrile Rural Electric Coop. The largest, Kentucky Utilities Co, charged residential customers 11.85¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Muhlenberg County? 1 operating plant with 1,854 MW of capacity. The largest is Paradise (1,854 MW, natural gas). ### Are there data centers in Muhlenberg County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Muhlenberg County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Hopkins County. ### Is Muhlenberg County adding jobs? Employers counted 7,845 jobs in 2025 against 8,157 in 2019 (-3.8%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 590 to 428. ### Does Muhlenberg County have a data center moratorium? No county-level measure is on record for Muhlenberg County. Kentucky has 44 local measures statewide, listed on the state page. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/muhlenberg-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/).