SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son broke ground last week on the largest single-site energy project ever planned in the United States.
At its core: a $33.3 billion gas-fired power plant designed to fuel a massive AI data center campus.
The details
The site: Piketon, Pike County, a 3,700-acre complex that produced weapons-grade uranium during the Cold War and has sat idle since 2001. It's now being transformed into the "PORTS Technology Campus."
Capacity: 9.2 GW of natural gas power generation plus 10 GW of data center capacity. That's the equivalent of nine nuclear reactors.
On top of the power plant, SB Energy (SoftBank's energy arm) is investing another $4.2 billion alongside U.S. utility AEP Ohio to upgrade the regional grid. Excess power feeds back into the public grid, and local ratepayers don't foot the bill - SoftBank does.
Lutnick: "the largest construction project in the country."
The consortium: 21 Japanese and American firms, including Japan's three megabanks and Goldman Sachs.
Son puts the long-term total investment at $500 billion, including AI semiconductors and infrastructure. The project is part of Japan's $550 billion investment pledge to the U.S., negotiated in exchange for lower trade tariffs.
Power vs. climate
Natural gas powering the next AI leap doesn't exactly fit the tech industry's clean energy narrative.
But the reality is straightforward: data centers at this scale can't run on renewables alone right now. Son chose speed over symbolism. Ohio may end up being the most expensive admission yet that AI's appetite for power and climate goals are heading in opposite directions.
Sources: JapanToday, Asia Financial, DOE
Get These Insights Every Morning
Join 18,000+ professionals who start their day with Asiabits. Free, every weekday, straight from Shanghai.
Subscribe Free →
