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- The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking proposals from private companies to build AI data centers on federal land in Oak Ridge.
- Two sites are available for lease, including a 95-acre parcel and up to 150 acres at the East Tennessee Technology Park.
- Companies must also propose how they will power the energy-intensive data centers, either by building a new power plant or partnering with one.
- This initiative is part of the Trump administration’s goal to accelerate the development of data center infrastructure on federal land.
Private companies can now compete to build AI data centers and power plants on federal land in Oak Ridge.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced earlier this year that Oak Ridge was one of four sites selected to move forward with AI data centers, which offer storage for networked computer servers that process and manage massive amounts of information.
The energy department is now asking companies to get specific, and began requesting proposals Sept. 30, allowing interested parties to share their ideas for data centers − and for how they would be powered. The project also might support a core goal of President Donald Trump’s administration: “unleashing American energy.”
Trump has issued a series of executive orders in his second term intended to make the United States a leader in the construction of data centers for artificial intelligence. A July order specifically aimed to speed up the review of permits for data centers planned on federal land while reducing the regulations needed to build them.
What could companies do with data centers in Oak Ridge?
Whichever company – or companies – the government selects will lease land for the projects from the federal government. The lease terms would be negotiable, a Department of Energy spokesperson told Knox News via email.
Companies have until Dec. 1 to tell the energy department about their plans for two pieces of land. One covers about 95 acres in Oak Ridge − north of the intersection of Bethel Valley Road and Tennessee Highway 95 − and the other spans up to 150 acres in the East Tennessee Technology Park that housed Manhattan Project sites.
The Department of Energy’s request lists options for each piece of land. The 95-acre site should accomodate a data center, while the Heritage Center could be used for another center, a power plant to support the center or both.
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Data centers need a lot of power. The industry’s yearly energy use amounted to about 4.4% of the total energy used in the United States in 2024, according to a report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The energy department is asking companies to offer plans that show some way of meeting that demand, either through building a new power producer or through partnering with a separate, new energy-generating venture in the region.
The Oak Ridge area’s proximity to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s grid is listed in the request as a regional strength for East Tennessee.
The National Nuclear Security Administration also published a request for proposals for its Savannah River Site in South Carolina on Sept. 30. Like Oak Ridge, the Savannah River Reservation houses a national lab. It also produces tritium, a key component of nuclear weapons.
How long will it take to build the data center?
Knox News reported earlier this year the Trump administration hopes some data centers on federal property could start operating in 2027.
The timeframe the Department of Energy outlined in the request it published in September asks companies to show they can spend up to 18 months with site development and up to two years building facilities.
And if a company wants to build its own power producer, it should prove the technology behind whatever’s generating electricity will be usable and available by the time the data center starts working, energy department staffers said in their request.
Companies will be judged to determine whether their proposals are financially and technologically feasible, according to a Department of Energy news release. The government also wants to know how any interested parties plan to handle regulations and permitting.
Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah.franklin@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01
