As we told you yesterday, a record level development is coming to Western Kentucky.

$100 billion of private investment are being poured into the former Paducah gaseous diffusion plant.

And officials expect there to be 600 permanent jobs.

Our Emily Prince was there for the announcement and spoke with state and federal leaders.

U.S.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright made his way to Paducah for the announcement of the Paducah American Energy Hub.

It's one of the biggest investments in Kentucky history, about $100 billion.

It will also include what will now become the largest data center in the works in the state.

A place that once helped America win the Cold War will now help America win the eye race.

Republican U.S.

Senate candidates and Kentucky six District Congressman Andy Barr said Wednesday's announcement is the largest economic development deal in Kentucky history, and it will make use of a site that dates back to the 1950s.

Asset management company Brookfield is proposing a massive 1.8GW data center.

For reference, the state's next largest data center in northeast Kentucky.

It's designed for around one gigawatt of power.

Brookfield Data Center will occupy nearly 800 acres of the total 3500 acre site.

Barr made a promise to Kentucky ratepayers that the project will actually lower energy prices.

The project will generate more electricity than it consumes with excess power flowing back onto the regional grid to help strengthen reliability and reduce costs for Kentucky families and businesses.

Fulfilling President Trump's ratepayer protection pledge.

I asked Brookfield officials how long their lease is for.

They said they're prepared to be, quote, invested for decades.

The data center will operate on a closed loop cooling system.

Officials say it should use less than 5 million gallons of water each day.

The water consumption will be like equal to a McDonald's.

So very little water consumption, massive tax revenue generation.

Secretary Wright and Congressman Barr were asked for their response to members of the public who are not in favor of the data center development, due to environmental and noise concerns.

In general, the benefits are just massively larger than the impositions on the community.

But lower energy prices is something that will come with all data center development projects.

If I could just add.

Also remember this is federal property.

This is Department of Energy property.

And so it's going to it is a unique situation where it's not private land development.

Brookfield is just one of the companies getting involved in the energy hub.

Officials said they will continue cleanup efforts at the site to attract more companies to the area.

The Department of Energy projected that cleanup will continue for the next 30 years.

The site is rich in American history.

Back in 1950, the Atomic Energy Commission selected Paducah for Cold War uranium enrichment.

The plant stopped operations back in 2013.

An official with the U.S.

Department of Energy said this announcement has been in the works for more than a year.

We went through a competitive process, and Paducah was selected exactly a year ago as one of the sites to redevelop and for a data center in the energy to go with it.

The officials emphasized that President Donald Trump's administration wants to stay ahead of other countries, especially China, when it comes to artificial intelligence.

It's hard to overstate the positive impacts of artificial intelligence, which is why we see so much capital going into it.

Construction on this site is expected to be fully complete by 2031.

In Paducah, for Kentucky edition, I'm Emily Prince.

Thank you so much, Emily.

Barr's Democratic opponent in the U.S.

Senate also commented on yesterday's announcement.

Charles Booker campaign sent Wkyt this statement says, quote, Kentuckians from all backgrounds have raised very real concerns about hyperscale data centers.

We've seen what can happen when data centers are built without community support or involvement.

Costs skyrocket.

Concerns over our health and the protection of our natural resources can be ignored.

We've seen people pushed out of their homes.

I'm running for Senate because we have to make sure of the needs, and the concerns of working people are at the center of everything we do, including economic development and quote.

State lawmakers are also weighing in.

The Paducah project is in state Senator Danny Carroll's district.

The Republican offered his support, saying, quote, it's incredibly promising that this project is designed to add more energy capacity than the campus actually requires by investing in job creation while strengthening the regional grid.

This project has an opportunity to exemplify how economic growth should work.

This project will not be powered by nuclear energy.

Something else Senator Carroll supports.

Speaking to that issue, he said, quote, the campus's projected electricity demand is the latest example of the need for additional reliable around the clock generation.

As artificial intelligence and other energy intensive industries expand rapidly.

End quote.