Paducah lands $100B AI data center project
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a major partnership to redevelop portions of its Paducah Site in Kentucky into a $100 billion artificial intelligence data center campus. This project, funded privately by companies including Brookfield and NextEra Energy, will also include new affordable energy infrastructure. It is expected to create 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs, with construction anticipated to complete by 2031.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a significant partnership to transform parts of its Paducah Site in Paducah, Kentucky, into an artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus. This landmark project, valued at over $100 billion in private investment, is one of the largest in Kentucky's history.
The initiative involves several key private entities, including Brookfield, NextEra Energy, Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System. The development is projected to generate approximately 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent positions. NextEra Energy plans to establish 2 gigawatts (GW) of new natural gas-fired generation, upgrade transmission infrastructure, and deploy up to 2.6 GW of battery energy storage to support the 1.8 GW AI and high-performance computing (HPC) campus.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright stated that the project, consistent with President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, aims to leverage federal assets to enhance power generation, create jobs, and bolster the U.S. lead in AI. The generation and storage capacity of the project are designed to exceed the data center's energy requirements, allowing excess electricity to be fed back into the regional grid to potentially reduce energy costs for consumers. This project also advances the DOE’s American Energy Hubs initiative, which seeks to revitalize former DOE sites into centers of innovation and economic growth. The Paducah Site offers existing transmission, water, and fiber infrastructure, making it suitable for large-scale AI development while continuing environmental cleanup.