The departments of Energy (DOE) and Commerce are teaming up with SoftBank and electric utility AEP Ohio to develop energy infrastructure to support the buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in southern Ohio.
The effort – centered at DOE’s Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio – includes plans for 10 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation and a 10 GW data center development, with officials emphasizing no added costs to utility customers, a DOE press release said.
Last year, DOE warned that half of all new American electrical power will be consumed by AI data centers by 2030 and that power supply will not meet demand.
President Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge was launched in part to solve that energy crisis and lower rising energy costs because of data center demand. Large technology companies, including Amazon and Google, signed the pledge. They agreed to negotiate dedicated power-rate deals with utilities and state governments, and to pay for the electricity and supporting infrastructure to power their data centers.
DOE said that the Ohio project is structured to comply with the pledge, with private-sector funding covering both generation and transmission upgrades.
SB Energy, a unit of Japanese investment holding company SoftBank Group, plans to develop the full 10 GW of generation capacity. The buildout includes 9.2 GW of natural gas generation, which is funded by $33.3 billion in Japanese investment tied to the U.S.-Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Agreement, DOE said.
SB Energy is also investing $4.2 billion in transmission upgrades with AEP Ohio to expand grid capacity and reliability.
DOE said the new generation will connect to the local grid and support both the data center campus and broader regional electricity needs. The department added that excess generation and transmission capacity will be made available to the grid to help reduce electricity costs in the region.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright framed the effort as part of a broader strategy to use federal assets to support AI infrastructure and domestic energy production.
“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,” Wright said.
AEP Ohio CEO Bill Fehrman said the partnership enables large-scale transmission investment without increasing customer rates, while SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son emphasized the role of the project in supporting next-generation AI infrastructure.
Construction is expected to begin this year, according to DOE.