Trump Inks Massive Data Center Deal With Japan

A massive data center deal was announced by the United States and Japan on Friday.

As part of the U.S.-Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Agreement, over 20 companies from both countries committed to developing a natural gas and artificial intelligence hub in Piketon, Ohio. The companies, or “Portsmouth Consortium,” will redevelop defunct Department of Energy (DOE) facilities as part of the $33.3 million deal.

The Portsmouth Consortium includes banks, construction companies, and manufacturers. J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation are notable project participants. SoftBank and its subsidiary energy company SB Power will lead the investment, managing a new partnership with state utility American Electric Power (AEP) Ohio.

SoftBank agreed to lease a former uranium enrichment facility from the DOE for the data center. The group will also shoulder the cost of redeveloping the defunct site.

“SoftBank Group and SB Energy plan to build 10 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation—including at least 9.2 GW of natural gas generation—to power 10 GW of data center development,” the DOE announced. Coupling data center developments with power plants — known as  co-location — allows companies to bypass strained public grid infrastructure and source their own electricity directly.

President Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge announced in early March outlined nationwide terms for data center deals, vowing to “protect American consumers from price hikes due to data center energy and infrastructure requirements.” The DOE stated the Portsmouth Consortium deal was “in compliance” with the pledge.

“SB Energy and AEP will agree to a dedicated data center rate structure, ensuring the cost of new power plants and transmission lines is paid by the project itself, not Ohioan families or small businesses,” the DOE continued.

SB Energy and AEP agreed to fund new transmission lines, electrical substations, and a gas pipeline with a $4.2 billion investment. Any excess energy generated by the new construction will be deployed to lower bills for Ohio ratepayers, according to the agreement.

“If it were not for the partnership between all parties – the Administration, SoftBank and our team – this type of investment would not be possible.” AEP’s chairman Bill Fehrman noted in the DOE’s press release. “This partnership unlocks billions of dollars of electric transmission infrastructure, all without increasing customer rates.”

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