U.S. DOE partners on $100 billion AI data center campus in Paducah, Kentucky

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a partnership to redevelop the Paducah Site in western Kentucky into a large‑scale AI data‑center campus. Private investors Brookfield and NextEra Energy will develop and operate the campus and build dedicated energy infrastructure, while regional utilities Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative and Paducah Power System will provide wholesale, retail and community services. The project is backed by more than $100 billion in private funding, one of the largest investments in Kentucky’s history, and is designed to support 1.8 GW of AI and high‑performance computing workloads. It is expected to create roughly 8,000 construction jobs and about 600 permanent positions. The plan follows a similar model used at DOE’s Portsmouth site, but the power‑service agreement still requires approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission.