$100B data center planned for Paducah

News Clip0:40WHAS11·Paducah, McCracken County, KY·7/30/2026

The US Department of Energy has announced plans for a $100 billion data center campus at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Western Kentucky. AI company Brookfield will operate the data center, while Next Era Energy will build a natural gas plant to support it and provide excess electricity to the grid.

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Gov: US Department of Energy

The US Department of Energy has announced plans for a $100 billion data center campus in Western Kentucky, to be located at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. This site, which previously produced enriched uranium for America's nuclear weapons program and was decommissioned in 2013, is set to become one of the largest data center projects in the country.

The high-performance computing data center at this location will be operated by AI company Brookfield. To support the facility, Next Era Energy will construct a natural gas plant, which the DOE anticipates will also supply excess electricity back to the grid. This development marks a significant economic and technological investment in the region.