Little talk of ‘world’s largest’ data center planned for southern Ohio

By David Beasley
The Center Square

A Cold-War relic in Southern Ohio from America’s nuclear past is emerging as a prime site in the latest global evolution – data centers and artificial intelligence.

In late March, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a public- private partnership with SB Energy, a Japanese company and part of the SoftBank Group, to build the “world’s largest artificial intelligence data center” at the 3,700- acre Portsmouth, Ohio site near the village of Piketon.

Construction began on the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in November 1952. The mission of the plant was to increase the national production of enriched uranium and maintain the nation’s superiority in the development and use of nuclear energy,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

In February, the Trump administration announced a massive natural gas electric power plant planned for southern Ohio as one component of a new trade deal with Japan.

The plant is expected to be in the “vicinity of Portsmouth,” the U.S. Commerce Department said at the time.

According to the Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, both of the announced projects – the gas power plant and the data center – are still planned.

Steve Shepherd, executive director of theSouthern Ohio Diversification Initiative, created to “re-industrialize and repurpose underutilized land and facilities” at the former diffusion plant in Piketon, declined to comment on the projects.

“We are not in a position to make any statements at this time,” Shepherd told The Center Square.

The village of Piketon had a population 2,291 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

When the natural gas electric plant was announced in February, the announcement caught some local leaders, including the mayor of Portsmouth, Charlotte Gordon, by surprise.

“I wasn’t privy to these discussions,” Gordon told The Center Square. “I started calling some of the people I thought should know and they didn’t know.”

The data center was discussed at a meeting earlier this year of the West Union Village Council, according to minutes of the meeting.

The village mayor, Jason Buda, expressed concern about the amount of water that would be consumed by the data center, according to the minutes.

“The mayor said that it’s too early at this time to say much but he does have concerns about the amount of water usage because from what he has heard they can expect to use one million gallons a day and that is about four times the amount we use ourself,” the minutes state.

When the data center was announced in March, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright praised the project, pointing out that it includes an electric generating component.

“I’m pleased to be working with our partners at SoftBank and AEP Ohio on this important project,” Wright said. “By bringing new power online and upgrading our existing infrastructure, this investment supports the AI boom and cutting-edge technologies while strengthening our energy system and helping keep costs down for the American people.”