Data Centers Eyeing Kentucky’s Idle Industrial Sites to Get Massive Power

Data centers eyeing Kentucky’s idle industrial sites to get massive power

Paducah Mayor George Bray calls the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County the ideal site for a hyperscale data center.

Data centers need massive power. They’re eyeing Kentucky’s idle industrial sites to get it.

One environmental attorney warned of ratepayer costs down the road.

Data centers eye idle industrial sites for massive power needs

Paducah Mayor George Bray calls the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County the ideal site for a hyperscale data center.

Data centers need massive power. They’re eyeing Kentucky’s idle industrial sites to get it. - The Lexington Times

By Liam Niemeyer, Kentucky Lantern · August 3, 2026 Paducah Mayor George Bray calls the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County the ideal site for a hyperscale data center.  When the plant was enriching uranium, initially for the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons and then for nuclear power plant fuel, it had the ability to use over 3 gigawatts of power and used 26 million gallons of water a day.  “When we enriched uranium …

Energy Department to Turn Kentucky Uranium Plant into Data Center and Gas Complex

August 2, 2026 (AP) – The U.S. Department of Energy is harnessing the artificial intelligence boom in its bid to convert another Cold War-era uranium enrichment site, tapping private equity to fund a $100 billion data center complex that will include its own new natural gas and battery storage power plant in Kentucky.The department selected investment firm Brookfield Asset Management to develop and operate the data center at the government-owned…