The U.S. Department of Energy selects Brookfield Asset Management to develop a $100 billion AI data center in Kentucky
The U.S. Department of Energy selected investment firm Brookfield Asset Management to develop a $100 billion data center complex at the government-owned Paducach Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. The project will include a new natural gas and battery storage power plant, aiming to establish artificial intelligence superiority over China as a national security and economic priority. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that the project will create thousands of jobs and bring tens of billions of dollars of investment to rural western Kentucky. The administration announced that Florida-based NextEra Energy will build and own the power generation components, which include 2 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation and 2.6 gigawatts of battery energy storage. Construction is expected to be complete by 2031. While the project promises economic growth, some advocates, such as Byron Gary, have raised concerns regarding the environmental impact on the downstream water supply and the potential for regular ratepayers to subsidize the power plants and transmission upgrades.