NextEra Energy and Brookfield Plan $100 Billion Data Center Campus on Former Kentucky Uranium Site

NextEra Energy and Brookfield announced plans to develop a data center campus with a total investment of about $100 billion on a former uranium enrichment site in Paducah, Kentucky. Surging U. S. electricity demand, driven by rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers and other high-energy technologies, is straining the country's aging power grid and spurring related infrastructure investment.

After the U. Department of Energy launched a project solicitation in late 2025, it selected Brookfield to lease land at the Paducah site and to develop and operate the data center campus. It also selected NextEra Energy to build and own the dedicated power generation facilities for the campus. The project coalition includes Brookfield, NextEra Energy, Big Rivers Electric Power, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, and Paducah Power System.

Under the plan, NextEra Energy will provide 2 gigawatts of natural gas generation capacity and up to 2.6 gigawatts of battery storage capacity for the data center. Brookfield will own and operate the 1.8-gigawatt data center campus. One gigawatt of electricity can power about 750,000 homes. NextEra said it will add generation capacity in phases as the data center campus gradually becomes operational, ensuring that the growing electricity demand is met by new supply rather than diverting existing power resources.

The campus will be built on the Department of Energy-owned Paducah site, which was constructed in the 1950s to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and later for nuclear reactor fuel, before being officially closed in 2013.

The project complies with the Trump administration's "Protecting Electric Consumers Commitment," which requires companies building and operating data centers to pay electricity rates above standard residential levels, preventing cost shifting to ordinary households. The project still requires final agreement negotiations and the signing of legally binding documents before it can proceed.

U. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the NextEra Energy and Brookfield plan and investment provide a key template for future similar projects, demonstrating that the U. can build world-leading infrastructure without shifting costs to surrounding communities. Brookfield Chief Executive Bruce Flatt said the Paducah project will serve as the starting point for the company's plan to invest $100 billion in AI infrastructure.