By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-07-29 17:56:52 | Updated at 2026-07-29 22:16:45
4 hours ago
NextEra Energy and investment firm Brookfield are planning to develop a more than $100 billion artificial intelligence data center and power complex at a former uranium-enrichment plant in western Kentucky.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which owns the shuttered Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, said on July 29 that the companies will lead a coalition of energy, infrastructure, and utility providers to transform part of the Cold War-era facility into a hub for electricity generation and advanced AI computing.
Once fully built in 2032, the campus is expected to support up to 1.8 gigawatts of utility capacity and more than 1.2 gigawatts of computing capacity, according to the DOE. Initial operations are expected to begin in 2028.
NextEra plans to develop up to 2 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation and as much as 2.6 gigawatts of battery storage at or near the campus. The new power and storage resources would be added in stages as the data center expands and would be built specifically to serve the project.
Because the planned energy resources would exceed the campus’s needs, surplus electricity could be supplied to the regional grid. The companies said the arrangement is designed to prevent the project’s energy and infrastructure costs from being passed on to residents and small businesses.
The development is expected to create approximately 8,000 construction jobs and 600 full-time operations jobs, according to the companies. The power service agreement remains subject to approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
“The data center will bring its own power, pay for its own power infrastructure and create good-paying jobs for local workers—and in doing so, it will make the local communities stronger,” John Ketchum, chairman, president and CEO of NextEra Energy, said in a statement.
The Paducah plant was constructed in the 1950s to enrich uranium, initially for nuclear weapons and later for commercial nuclear reactors. Enrichment operations ended in 2013, and the DOE has since overseen environmental cleanup and decommissioning work at the site.
After issuing a request for offers in November 2025, the Energy Department selected Brookfield to lease the land and develop the Paducah campus. It separately selected NextEra to build and own the power resources that would support the project.
The broader coalition also includes nonprofit utilities Big Rivers Electric Power Corp., Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System.
Big Rivers would provide wholesale electricity, while Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative would deliver retail service. Paducah Power System would serve as a community partner.
The companies said the property’s existing transmission capacity, water infrastructure, fiber connections, roads, and available land could accelerate the development of the new campus.
The announcement marks the latest effort by the DOE to make federal land available for large-scale AI data centers and the power plants needed to operate them.
Mega Data Center Project in Ohio
In March, the department announced a public-private project to build what could become the nation’s largest data center at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant near Piketon, Ohio.
Like the Kentucky site, the 3,700-acre former Cold War-era uranium-enrichment complex features large, flat terrain, access to water, and extensive legacy infrastructure.
Under the plan, SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank, will build a 10-gigawatt data center campus supported by 10 gigawatts of new power generation, including at least 9.2 gigawatts of natural gas-fired capacity. SB Energy will also invest $4.2 billion with AEP Ohio to upgrade and build new transmission lines in southern Ohio.
The DOE said $33.3 billion in Japanese government funding would support the natural gas portion of the project.
The money is part of a broader $550 billion Japanese investment commitment under a U.S.–Japan trade agreement that established a 15 percent baseline tariff on most Japanese imports.
