Google announced Monday it will invest $1.5 billion in its Bridgeport data center, including a commitment that it will pay for all of its electric costs.
The tech giant’s expansion comes as companies rush to build data centers that fuel online consumption and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.
As part of the investment, Google will also establish several initiatives to serve the northeast Alabama community, including funding to support efforts to bring down energy bills and to provide local educational resources.
“Our continued expansion in Alabama is driven by a long-term vision of shared success,” Thomas Gamble, Google Jackson County site lead, said in a press release. “By investing heavily in the students, small businesses, and local organizations that form the backbone of Jackson County, Google aims to build a foundation of opportunity that will benefit the region long after construction is complete.”
The investment will build out the Jackson County facility over this year and next. The data center was established in 2018 and is located on Tennessee Valley Authority’s retired Widows Creek coal plant. It used the site’s existing electric grid and infrastructure to help power the center.
State Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, praised the announcement, saying it will “generate lasting, positive impacts for local families and businesses alike.”
“From funding STEM education initiatives to supporting critical energy affordability programs, Google has consistently demonstrated a deep dedication to Jackson County,” Livingston said.
The expansion will bring 1,000 contract workers to the area for the construction phase and prioritize local businesses to support its operations, according to Google.
So far the company has been contracted to provide 300 megawatts of energy to the region. In 2025, the tech giant partnered with Kairos Power and TVA to supply up to 50 megawatts of advanced nuclear power to Google data centers in Alabama and Tennessee.
Water and energy usage
As the explosion of data centers across the country garners scrutiny over their significant energy usage, Google said it will cover all of the associated energy costs of the expanded data center as well as the infrastructure costs. The commitment aligns with the Trump administration’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge to require companies to cover the facilities’ costs instead of its neighbors.
The massive facilities are also water guzzlers and can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day, according to an analysis by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. That’s equivalent to the water use typically seen in a 10,000- to 50,000-person town.
But to assuage any potential concerns over water use at the expanded center, the tech company pointed to its recent water stewardship initiatives. Those include Google’s commitment to replenish more water than it uses at all its sites by 2030 and a promise to report its water use annually for its data center locations.
Google also highlighted its support of the Nature Conservancy’s efforts to restore the Paint Rock River Watershed, which drains into the Tennessee River.
Recently, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., introduced the Advancing Water Reuse Act to provide a 30% tax credit for projects within data centers or other industrial facilities that capture wastewater, stormwater, saltwater or graywater and clean it to make it suitable for freshwater use.
Support for community initiatives
On Monday, Google also said it will contribute $2 million to an Energy Impact Fund, which will support programs that make utility bills more affordable for Alabamians. Google will partner with TVA and the Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama for the initiative.
“This funding will significantly expand our capacity to provide weatherization and energy efficiency services in Jackson County, helping more families lower their utility costs and live in more energy-efficient homes,” Luke Laney, executive director of the Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama, said.
Google will donate $550,000 to procure STEM kits for children in grades 4-8 in the Jackson County School District. The kits will provide students with “hands-on learning opportunities to develop new skills and education for the digital future.”
Google already supports local robotics events, the Kevin Dukes Career & Innovation Academy and the YouScience aptitude program for high schoolers.
In Alabama, polling shows Republicans are split on whether data centers are good or bad for the state. About 22% of respondents in a statewide survey said the facilities were good, and 25% deemed them as bad. While about a third of voters, or 37%, said the centers are a mixed bag.
Earlier this year, the Alabama Legislature also took action to address data centers. Lawmakers passed a bill to reduce tax abatements for large centers in the state and another to require the facilities, not neighbors, to pay for the energy they consume.