The former uranium enrichment complex would host more than 1.2 GW of AI compute backed by dedicated natural gas and battery storage.
Brookfield and NextEra Energy plan to invest $100 billion to transform part of the US Department of Energy's former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant into one of the nation's largest AI data center campuses, pairing more than 1.2 GW of compute capacity with dedicated power generation built specifically for the project.
The Paducah American Energy Hub coalition unveiled the project Wednesday. Brookfield will develop and operate the campus, while NextEra will build up to 2 GW of natural gas generation and up to 2.6 GW of battery energy storage. The partners expect the campus to support up to 1.8 GW of utility capacity by 2032.
The partnership also includes Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System.
DOE selected Brookfield following its November 2025 Request for Offers to lease land and develop the campus at the Paducah site. DOE picked NextEra to build and own the dedicated generation resources. The project remains subject to negotiation and execution of definitive agreements.
“Demand for critical infrastructure that accelerates innovation in the U.S. and supports the economy will need to be met with capital, development capabilities, and additional power generation that benefits local communities,” Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt said in a statement. “The Department of Energy Paducah Site will be the seed of our plan to invest $100 billion in AI infrastructure.”
NextEra Chairman, President and CEO John Ketchum said the project demonstrates a model for expanding AI infrastructure without shifting power infrastructure costs onto existing utility customers.
“This project is a proof point for how AI infrastructure should be built in America,” Ketchum said in a statement. “The data center will bring its own power, pay for its own power infrastructure and create good-paying jobs for local workers.”
An Integrated Energy Model #
For data center operators, the announcement signals a growing shift toward treating power infrastructure as part of the campus rather than as an external utility dependency. “The industry is moving toward a world where the largest data-center campuses increasingly have to bring some combination of generation, storage, transmission funding and load flexibility with them,” said Neil Osnato, founder of Persistence Analytics Group.
Osnato said the project's dedicated generation model could shorten the path to power for hyperscale AI campuses while reducing the need to socialize infrastructure costs across existing utility customers. But he cautioned against interpreting the project's announced generating resources as equivalent firm capacity.
“The first thing I would not do is add those resources together and call it 4.6 GW of equivalent firm generation,” Osnato said. “A gigawatt of battery capacity is not the same thing as a gigawatt of continuously available generation.”
Instead, he said, the critical question is how much firm power the campus can sustain during stressed operating conditions and what support it will continue to require from the interconnected grid.
“Bringing your own power is a major improvement,” Osnato said. “It is not the same as bringing your own grid.”
He added that planners will ultimately need to evaluate more than the project's headline investment and nameplate capacity, including transmission requirements, fuel infrastructure, reserve obligations, battery operating assumptions, and whether incremental system costs remain appropriately assigned.
“Do not count dedicated megawatts by nameplate,” Osnato said. “Verify what they can actually deliver when the system is stressed.”
Existing Infrastructure #
The partners said the former enrichment site already has transmission capacity, water infrastructure, fiber connectivity, roads, and developable land, allowing construction to proceed more quickly than a greenfield site.
Under the proposed structure, Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation would provide wholesale electric service, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative would provide retail service, and Paducah Power System would serve as a community partner. The power service agreement will require approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
The project is expected to create approximately 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent operations jobs.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright described the project as a potential blueprint for future AI infrastructure development.
“It's difficult to overestimate the importance of this project,” Wright said in the announcement. “The planning and investment by NextEra Energy and Brookfield provides a crucial roadmap for future projects in the United States by revealing the ability to build world-leading infrastructure without passing costs on to surrounding communities.”
The announcement did not identify an anchor AI customer or disclose when construction is expected to begin.