On July 29, 2026, the Department of Energy selected Brookfield to lease land at its Paducah Site, the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County, Ky., and build an AI and high-performance computing campus, and selected NextEra Energy to build and own the generation behind it. DOE had sought proposals for the site in a solicitation issued Nov. 4, 2025. The campus is designed for 1.8 GW of utility load, which NextEra says supports more than 1.2 GW of compute. It is paired with up to 2 GW of new natural gas generation and 2.6 GW of battery storage, for 4.6 GW of dedicated resources. Big Rivers Electric Corp. will supply wholesale power and Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative will provide retail service. The partners put the privately funded investment at $100 billion over 20 years, with about 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs. A fact sheet posted by McCracken County lists commercial operation of the data center and batteries as early as 2028 and the gas plant as early as 2032. DOE puts completion at 2031; NextEra puts it at 2032. No data center tenant has been named.

No definitive agreements have been announced. The NextEra/Brookfield release states the project is subject to negotiation and execution of definitive documentation, and both DOE and the release state that the power service agreement requires approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission. A search of the PSC’s case records on Sept. 27 found no filing tied to the project. The site has been on EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List since 1994, with trichloroethylene and technetium-99 among its contaminants and cleanup forecast through 2065 and likely beyond. On Aug. 6, Gov. Andy Beshear signed Executive Order 2026-494, which requires data center developers to file an energy plan with the state Energy and Environment Cabinet showing they will not raise electric bills, directs the PSC to bar utilities from raising rates to recover data center costs, and directs the cabinet to deny permits where a data center would negatively affect air quality, water use, water quality, water supply, federal jurisdictional wetlands or natural resources. The governor’s release does not name the Paducah project. The county’s FAQ describes the project as in its early stages, with technical and environmental analyses under way and public meetings planned; the county’s project page lists no zoning, tax or other county action.