你会拒绝 2600 万美元吗？肯塔基州的一对母女做到了。据 WXIX/Gray News 报道，一家公司想要她们的农田建设数据中心，她们说不了。这一决定是在人工智能需求持续增长的背景下做出的。劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室发布的《2024 年美国数据中心能源使用报告》显示，2023 年数据中心消耗了美国总用电量的约 4.4%。
Would you turn down $26 million? A mother and daughter in Kentucky did. According to a WXIX/Gray News report, a company wanted their farmland for a data center, and they said no. The decision comes as AI demand continues to grow. The 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that data centers consumed approximately 4.4% of total U.S. electricity use in 2023.
两位女性、1200 英亩土地和一个天价报价艾达·哈德尔斯顿和她的女儿德尔西亚·贝尔属于一个在梅森县拥有约 1200 英亩农田的家族。这个家族世代耕种这片土地，饲养的牛只销往周边地区。据报道，2025 年 4 月，一家未具名的、被描述为《财富》100 强企业的公司接触了贝尔，出价 2600 万美元收购部分农田，在梅斯维尔市界外建设一个大规模数据中心园区。
Two women, 1,200 acres, and one huge offerIda Huddleston and her daughter, Delsia Bare, belong to a family that owns roughly 1,200 acres of farmland in Mason County, Ky. The family has farmed the land for generations and raises cattle sold across the region. Bare was approached in April 2025 by an unnamed company described as a Fortune 100 firm, according to the report. It offered $26 million for part of the farm to build a massive data center campus just outside the city limits of Maysville.
这个家族拒绝了。贝尔告诉《人物》杂志，她曾短暂签署过出售合同，部分原因是担心征用权以及来自不愿透露身份的开发商的压力，随后她和母亲撤回了决定。这个家族告诉 NBC 新闻，他们曾与该县工业发展局签署购买合同，后来在从邻居处得知土地将用于建设数据中心后，要求法律解除合同。哈德尔斯顿说，她觉得自己的责任是守住这片土地，直到她不再需要它，再传给下一代。
The family said no. Bare told People magazine that she briefly signed a contract to sell, partly out of fear of eminent domain and pressure from developers who would not identify themselves, before she and her mother pulled out. The family told NBC News that it signed a purchase contract with the county’s industrial development authority and later asked for a legal release after learning from neighbors that the land would be used for a data center. Huddleston said she feels her job is to keep the land until she is done with it and then pass it on to the next generation.
她还说，已故丈夫为她建了这所房子，她打算在这里度过余生。贝尔和母亲对记者表示，没有任何金额能改变这一点。对这个家族来说，农场从来不是一个价格标签。
She also said her late husband built her home and she intends to die in it. Bare and her mother told the reporters that no amount of money changes that. For the family, the farm was never a price tag.
并非所有人都以同样的眼光看待这个项目。报道引用梅斯维尔市经理马特·沃灵福德的话说，该数据中心将采用闭环系统循环用水，以降低污染风险。他还表示，其固体废弃物量不会超过克罗格超市或其他现有工厂。
Not everyone views the project in the same way. The report quotes Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford as saying the data center would recycle water in a closed-loop system to reduce contamination risk. He also said its solid waste would be no greater than that from a Kroger or another existing factory.
他补充说，无论是否有这个数据中心，这块土地对当地工业管理局都很有价值。数据中心为何需要如此多的土地数据中心是一座装满计算机的大楼。这些设施运行应用程序、为AI工具提供动力并存储文件。它们需要大量土地和稳定的电力供应。伯克利实验室的报告于2024年12月发布，是应2020年《能源法案》的要求而编制的。
The land, he added, would be valuable to the local industrial authority with or without this data center. Why data centers want so much landA data center is a big building full of computers. These facilities run apps, fuel AI tools, and store files. They require lots of land and a steady supply of electricity. The Berkeley Lab report was published in December 2024 and was called for by the Energy Act of 2020.
报告显示需求增长有多快。美国数据中心2023年消耗了约176太瓦时的电力，高于2014年的约58太瓦时。报告还预测，到2028年，数据中心可能消耗美国所有电力的6.7%至12%。这些是估算值，实际数字可能有所不同。
It shows how quickly the need is growing. U.S. data centers consumed around 176 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023, up from around 58 terawatt-hours in 2014. The report also projects data centers could consume between 6.7% and 12% of all U.S. electricity by 2028. Those are estimates, so the actual number could be different.
全球呈现相同模式。根据国际能源署的《能源与AI》报告，2024年数据中心用电量约为415太瓦时，约占全球用电量的1.5%。该机构预测，到2030年这一数字将翻倍多，达到约945太瓦时（TWh）。报告称，AI是最大的增长驱动力。报告指出，在美国，到2030年，数据中心可能占电力需求增长的近一半。在发达经济体整体中，数据中心贡献了超过20%的需求增长。
The same pattern shows up around the world. Data centers used about 415 terawatt-hours in 2024, or around 1.5% of the world’s electricity, according to the International Energy Agency’s Energy and AI report. The agency forecasts that figure will more than double to around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030. It says AI is the biggest growth driver. In the United States, data centers could be responsible for nearly half of the growth in electricity demand through 2030, it says. Data centers contribute over 20% of demand growth in advanced economies overall.
该机构还指出，这些预测存在真实的不确定性。斗争尚未结束截至2026年3月，该家庭计划继续对抗数据中心。报告称，对数据中心用地的争夺是一场可能改变肯塔基州农田未来的斗争。据《Data Center Dynamics》报道，此后，梅森县财政法院于2026年5月22日投票决定，将总面积2080英亩的28处地产重新划区为农村工业用地；WKYT报道，2026年10月，该法院一致通过决议，推进超大规模数据中心项目，与Meta签约。
The agency also notes that these forecasts are subject to real uncertainty. The fight is not overAs of March 2026, the family planned to keep fighting the data center. The report calls the push for data center land a fight that could alter the future of farmland throughout Kentucky. Since then, the Mason County Fiscal Court voted on May 22, 2026, to rezone 28 properties totaling 2,080 acres for rural industrial use, according to Data Center Dynamics, and in October 2026 it voted unanimously to approve a resolution moving ahead with a hyperscale data center, contracting with Meta, WKYT reported.
一些土地所有者可能想要出售，另一些则想要保护他们的农场，而这两种选择都不简单。对于年轻读者来说，这个故事提醒我们，人工智能不仅仅是软件。它运行在实际的建筑、实际的土地和实际的输电线路上。这家人做出了一个明确的决定。无论你是否同意他们的做法，他们的故事都提出了一个公正的问题：为了我们每天使用的技术，我们愿意付出什么代价。
Some landowners may want to sell, others want to protect their farms, and neither choice is simple. For young readers, this story is a reminder that AI is not just software. It runs on actual buildings, actual land, and actual power lines. This family had made a clear decision. Whether you agree with them or not, their story raises a fair question about what we are willing to trade for the technology we use every day.