Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023.
Kentucky’s governor was not briefed on a $100 billion private investment being made in the western part of his state for a data center and energy campus to support it, his spokesperson said July 30, a day after the project was publicly announced.
In a statement to the Herald-Leader, a spokesperson for Gov. Andy Beshear said he “hasn’t been briefed by any of the companies or agencies involved” and therefore had questions about the project’s power, environmental impact, jobs, “and whether the project will pay the community its fair share of taxes.”
The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday unveiled plans for the massive investment to transform part of its former uranium enrichment site in McCracken County into one of the nation’s largest artificial intelligence data center campuses, marking one of the biggest economic development projects in Kentucky history.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, nominated by President Donald Trump, was in Kentucky for the occasion. U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, who does not represent that part of the state in Congress, was also there. So were a handful of Republican state lawmakers.
But Beshear, who is often ribbed by Republicans for his frequent appearances at ribbon cuttings and ceremonial check presentations, was notably absent. Just last week, he was on scene for the capital city’s first Target opening.
So why didn’t Beshear, a Democrat, participate in a celebration of the project announcement July 29 at the site of the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant?
At the event, organizers told the Herald-Leader the governor was invited. According to an energy department spokesperson, it “provided notifications last week and this week to members of the Governor’s office. This is standard practice.” The governor’s office did not respond to a Herald-Leader question about being invited.
Neither the governor’s office nor his economic development cabinet put out press releases Wednesday or Thursday about the investment, which is typical for both when jobs are announced whether they’re supported by private or public dollars. On July 29, Beshear and the cabinet shared a Northern Kentucky manufacturing business would add another facility that would create 73 jobs.
A new $100 billion data center will be built at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kevil, Ky. Ryan C. Hermens
Dubbed the Paducah American Energy Hub, the investment will support a 1.8-gigawatt hyperscale data center for artificial intelligence and a new, 2-gigawatt energy campus to supply it, including natural gas-fired power plants. Its construction will create 8,000 temporary jobs and its operations will create 600 permanent ones.
Brookfield Asset Management will build and operate the data center while NextEra Energy Resources will build and supply the power required to serve the site.
Brookfield and NextEra did not immediately respond to requests for a response to the governor’s comments, more information about his invitation and confirmation as to whether they communicated with Beshear’s office about the investment.
Big Rivers Electric Corp. will provide wholesale electric service to the site and Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative will deliver retail service. Other support will be provided by Paducah Power System.
Additional power generated at the hub not consumed by users of data center space will be put back onto the grid. A tenant for the data center has yet to be announced.
The data center part of the hub will be on 600 acres, leased by NextEra from the department for multiple decades, officials said Wednesday. The natural gas power generation component will take up 200 acres and battery energy storage is on 300 acres.
The announcement positions Western Kentucky at the center of the nation’s race to build the computing infrastructure needed for AI, while highlighting the growing role of former industrial and federal sites in meeting soaring demand for data centers.
The hub is just one of several projects at the former uranium enrichment plant announced in the past year that have been sparked in part by the Trump administration’s push to get data centers, and nuclear energy, on American soil.
Roughly a year ago, state officials said General Matter would invest $1.5 billion in a new uranium enrichment facility at the site to produce fuel for commercial and next-generation nuclear reactors, while another company, Global Laser Enrichment, has proposed its own advanced enrichment project.
Beshear was part of the announcement celebration event in August 2025 after General Matter signed its lease for 100 acres at the plant.
Last fall, the governor said bringing the plant back to life and adding to a list of resources the state can provide is a unique narrative.
“Now, with America looking to supercharge emerging technologies like AI, once again, it’s us. It’s our commonwealth and our workforce that’s being asked to step up for this nation. This is the story of our Kentucky,” Beshear said last August. “The energy produced from our lands and from the sweat of our hard-working people help grow our nation into a global economic powerhouse.”
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Piper Hansen
Lexington Herald-Leader
Piper Hansen is a local business and regional economic development reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader. She previously covered similar topics and housing in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Before that, Hansen wrote about state government and politics in Arizona.
