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U.S.-Japan investment to redevelop Ohio brownfield for data centers and power, Energy Secretary says
Summary
Secretary Christopher Wright previewed a planned announcement in Ohio of Japanese investment, saying a former gaseous-diffusion site will become an energy campus powering data centers with initial natural-gas plants and potential future nuclear units.
Secretary Christopher Wright said a planned U.S.-Japan investment will convert a former gaseous‑diffusion industrial site in Ohio into a large energy campus to power data centers and next‑generation manufacturing.
Wright said the brownfield — which formerly hosted high‑power industrial operations tied to nuclear production — has been cleaned and prepared for redevelopment. He described an investment that will build "several many gigawatts of new electric generating capacity" to serve data centers and anchor new manufacturing, calling it "an absolute boom for this region of Ohio."
Wright said initial construction will focus on natural‑gas power plants to meet near‑term demand and that the site is suitable for later construction of nuclear units. He credited trade negotiations led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik and investment from SoftBank (identified in the interview by its CEO, Masayoshi) for enabling the deal.
The secretary said Japanese contractors and companies will participate in the project. He did not provide a firm investment amount, construction timetable or specific site name during the interview.
Wright framed the project as supporting U.S. competitiveness in artificial intelligence and next‑generation manufacturing while expanding grid capacity to lower prices in the region.
