# Rowan County, Kentucky: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Morehead Rowan County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Rowan County is home to Morehead. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “Two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers”. Electrical contractors employ 15, up 15.4% since 2019 against up 22.8% statewide, at an average $50,149 a year. 1 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly other technologies. Employers here counted 10,626 jobs in 2025, up 4.6% from 2019. +4.6% total jobs since 2019, now 10,626 1 MW of operating power plants, mostly other technologies 11.85¢ per kWh for Kentucky Utilities Co residential customers, 2024 ## Cities and towns in Rowan County Rowan County is home to Morehead. Morehead6,776 residents Lakeview Heights271 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Farmers. 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 Rowan County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Kentucky | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 24,714 | 24,476 | ▼ 1.0% | 48th of 120 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 10,159 | 10,626 | ▲ 4.6% | 54th of 120 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $35,926 | $50,051 | ▲ 39.3% | — | | Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 13 | 15 | ▲ 15.4% | — | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.9% | 5.1% | ▲ 0.2pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 1 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Its power plants have 1 MW of capacity, 100% of it other technologies. Kentucky Utilities Co is the largest utility serving Rowan County, one of 5 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 11.85¢/kWh in 2024, below the 13.21¢ median for Kentucky utilities. Unemployment was 5.1% in August 2026, against 4.9% in 2019. 24,476 people live here, down 1.0% since 2020. ## Who powers Rowan County ### Utilities with service territory in Rowan 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% | | Kentucky Power Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 130,852 | 15.07¢ | 27% | | Clark Energy Coop Inc - (KY) | Cooperative | Bundled | 26,203 | 13.25¢ | 21% | | Fleming-Mason Energy Coop Inc | Cooperative | Bundled | 23,666 | 13.05¢ | 14% | | Grayson Rural Electric Coop Corp | Cooperative | Bundled | 14,429 | 16.07¢ | 33% | 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 | |---|---|---| | Other technologies | 1 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Morehead Generating Facility | North American Biofuels, LLC | Other technologies | 1 MW | 2019 | ## The Rowan County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 10,626 | $50,051 | 1.00 | | Electrical contractors | 15 | $50,149 | 0.20 | 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 Rowan County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | Two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers | In force | 2026-09 | ## Rowan County and its neighbors Of the 7 counties that border Rowan County, Fleming 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 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Rowan County | 24,476 | ▲ 4.6% | 1 MW | — | — | 1 | | Bath County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/bath-county) | 13,176 | ▼ 0.2% | — | — | — | — | | Carter County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/carter-county) | 26,149 | ▲ 2.5% | — | — | — | — | | Elliott County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/elliott-county) | 7,265 | ▼ 3.2% | — | — | — | — | | Fleming County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/fleming-county) | 15,787 | ▲ 2.3% | — | 188 MW | — | — | | Lewis County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/lewis-county) | 12,901 | ▲ 1.2% | — | — | — | — | | Menifee County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/menifee-county) | 6,430 | ▲ 0.2% | — | — | — | — | | Morgan County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/morgan-county) | 14,415 | ▲ 6.0% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Kentucky [All Kentucky countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky)[Carter County26,149 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/carter-county)[Fleming County15,787 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/fleming-county)[Morgan County14,415 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/morgan-county)[Bath County13,176 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/bath-county)[Lewis County12,901 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/lewis-county) ## Rowan County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Rowan County, Kentucky? 5 utilities have service territory in Rowan County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Kentucky Utilities Co, Kentucky Power Co, Clark Energy Coop Inc - (KY), Fleming-Mason Energy Coop Inc. The largest, Kentucky Utilities Co, charged residential customers 11.85¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Rowan County? 1 operating plant with 1 MW of capacity. The largest is Morehead Generating Facility (1 MW, other technologies). ### Are there data centers in Rowan County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Rowan County. ### Is Rowan County adding jobs? Employers counted 10,626 jobs in 2025 against 10,159 in 2019 (+4.6%, BLS QCEW). ### Does Rowan County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Rowan County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/kentucky/rowan-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/).