U.S. Department of Energy announced plan for $100 billion AI data center investment.

The Energy Department announced plans Wednesday to redevelop part of a retired Cold War-era uranium enrichment site in western Kentucky into a privately funded, $100 billion artificial intelligence data center. The agency is partnering with Brookfield Asset Management, NextEra Energy, Big Rivers Electric Power Corp., Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System to redevelop the site in Paducah, with the project expected to create 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs.

Once fully constructed in 2032, the campus will support up to 1.8 gigawatts of utility capacity and more than 1.2 gigawatts of computing capacity, backed by up to 4.6 gigawatts of dedicated generation resources paid for and built specifically for the project. The Energy Department stated that the project's new gas-fired power plants would produce more electricity than the data center requires, with surplus power available to local communities.

Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt said the project fulfills the Trump administration's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, designed to ensure that companies building and using data centers don't pass energy costs onto residential customers. "By advancing this project in line with the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, we are ensuring innovation and affordability go hand in hand while creating high-quality jobs, attracting new investment, and strengthening the local economy," Flatt said.

The data center will occupy portions of the Energy Department's 3,556-acre Paducah site, which produced low-enriched uranium from the 1950s until its closure in 2013. Brookfield was selected to develop and operate the data center, while NextEra Energy, one of the nation's largest energy companies, was selected to build and own the dedicated energy infrastructure. Big Rivers Electric Power will provide wholesale electric service, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative will provide retail electric service, and Paducah Power System will serve as a community partner. The power service agreement remains subject to approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

"This project is a proof point for how AI infrastructure should be built in America," NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum said. "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."

This marks the third time the Trump administration has announced plans to redevelop Cold War-era facilities into data centers. In March, the Energy Department announced it would repurpose parts of a former nuclear enrichment site in Portsmouth, Ohio, for a 10-gigawatt data center, mostly powered by natural gas and financed partly by Japan. Earlier this month, the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration said it would work with engineering firm Amentum to explore a 1-gigawatt data center, potentially powered by gas and nuclear energy, at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a former complex devoted to producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.

The Paducah project advances the Department of Energy's American Energy Hubs initiative, designed to transform former department sites into hubs for affordable energy production, advanced manufacturing, technological innovation, and economic growth. "By transforming former DOE sites into engines of innovation and economic growth, we can revitalize communities with increased tax revenue and thousands of jobs, while also strengthening America's energy security," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.