The US Department of Energy (DOE) has struck a partnership with Brookfield, NextEra Energy, Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System to develop portions of its Paducah Site into a data center campus along with energy infrastructure, drawing more than US$ 100 billion in privately funded investment.
The Paducah Site is said to be primed for large-scale AI infrastructure as it has existing transmission capacity, water infrastructure, fiber connectivity, and available land. The site was home to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, where the US enriched uranium for its weapons program and later nuclear fuel. The DOE is in the process of deactivating the facility as part of a remediation program that this data center and power project would support according to a press release.
“The $100 billion private sector investment in Paducah is historic,” said US Congressman Andy Barr. “Together with our private sector partners, this investment will create jobs, strengthen our energy security, and deliver lasting economic growth for Paducah and the Commonwealth for decades to come.”
“We are intently focused on finding ways to put federal land back to productive use for the American people,” said Tim Walsh, DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management. “That commitment is at the heart of our American Energy Hubs initiative to increase affordable energy, lead the globe in AI innovations, grow local economies, and fulfill our obligation to restore and revitalize communities.”
The project will see NextEra Energy developing 2 GW of grid connected gas-fired generation, upgrading existing transmission infrastructure and deploying up to 2.6 GW of battery energy storage. These investments will support a new 1.8 GW AI and high-performance computing innovation campus.
Brookfield, one of the largest alternative investment management companies in the world, was selected to develop and operate the Paducah data center campus following a Request for Offers issued by the DOE in November 2025. Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation will provide wholesale electricity, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative will provide retail electric service, and Paducah Power System will serve as a community partner. The DOE notes that the power service agreement remains subject to approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
Construction of the campus is expected to be completed in 2031.
News of the development of the former uranium enrichment facility comes in the same month that the National Nuclear Security Administration, part of the DOE, announced it would be building an AI data center and on-site energy generation source at the Savannah River Site, a former plutonium production facility that will eventually host a 1 GW data center.