Google commits $1.5 billion to Alabama data center and digital skills expansion

The Jackson County investment includes training for more than 130,000 Alabamians, $550,000 for school STEM kits and a new $2 million energy fund.

Google is investing $1.5 billion to expand its data center campus in Jackson County, Alabama, alongside digital skills, STEM education and energy affordability programs

Google has announced a $1.5 billion investment across 2026 and 2027 to expand its data center campus in Jackson County, Alabama, alongside education and workforce programs intended to provide digital skills training to more than 130,000 state residents.

The company will work with more than 150 organizations on the training initiative, including Alabama A&M University, Northeast Alabama Community College and Wallace State Community College. The partnerships include the development and funding of Google Career Certificate programs.

Google has also committed $550,000 to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) kits for students in grades four through eight across the Jackson County School District. The kits are intended to provide hands-on learning linked to digital skills and future careers.

The Jackson County data center already supports hundreds of full-time roles, according to Google, while more than 1,000 contract workers are expected to work at the site during the construction phase of the expansion.

Google has not set out when the STEM kits will reach classrooms, how many students will receive them or the timeline for delivering training to the 130,000 Alabamians covered by its workforce commitment.

STEM kits and digital skills training

The $550,000 school donation builds on existing Google-funded education programs in Jackson and DeKalb counties.

These include robotics events that have involved more than 1,500 students in grades five through eight, the Kevin Dukes Career & Innovation Academy and the YouScience aptitude program for high school students.

Jason Davidson, superintendent of Jackson County School District, says the programs were helping students identify their abilities and potential career routes.

"Sustained investment in local classrooms is vital to helping students identify their strengths and career pathways early," Davidson says. "From supporting regional robotics events to funding critical programs like YouScience, Google’s partnership is helping the district transition toward high-tech, future-ready education. This collaboration ensures that local graduates have a clear, direct path to high-demand careers right here in Alabama."

The wider digital skills program will be delivered through partnerships with universities, community colleges and other organizations across Alabama. Google said the initiative would reach more than 130,000 people, although it did not provide a breakdown of the courses, learner groups or locations involved.

Google Career Certificates are designed to support learners preparing for technology and business roles. The announcement does not specify which certificate pathways will be funded through the Alabama partnerships.

The company said its expansion would also prioritize local suppliers for services including landscaping, food provision and maintenance, while bringing additional demand to hotels, restaurants and other small businesses during construction.

Former coal plant site supports data center expansion

Google has operated in Jackson County since 2018, with the data center campus beginning operations in 2019.

The campus occupies land previously used by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s retired Widows Creek coal-fired power plant. Existing electricity lines and other infrastructure at the site were repurposed to support data center operations and connect additional power generation to the regional grid.

Amanda Peterson Corio, who works across energy and global infrastructure at Google, said in a LinkedIn post that the former power plant infrastructure had been reused rather than abandoned when the site closed: "This site has a unique backstory. We were able to locate our Jackson County campus on land that was once home to the shuttered Widows Creek coal-fired power plant. Decades of investment didn’t go to waste just because the site had closed. Instead, we repurposed existing electric lines and infrastructure to enhance the data center’s reliability and add clean power to the grid."

Google said it has contracted more than 300 megawatts of new generation capacity for the Tennessee Valley region.

In 2025, Google, Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority announced an agreement intended to supply up to 50 megawatts of advanced nuclear power to Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama.

The company also uses demand-response arrangements with the Tennessee Valley Authority, reducing data center electricity consumption at times of peak demand and during some extreme weather conditions.

Energy fund targets household and school costs

Alongside the data center expansion, Google has created a $2 million Energy Impact Fund for Northeast Alabama.

The fund will be delivered with the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama. It will support weatherization and energy-efficiency work for income-qualified households and local schools, primarily in Jackson County.

Google said it would pay for all electricity used by the expanded data center and cover infrastructure costs directly created by its operations.

Amanda Peterson Corio, who works on energy and global infrastructure at Google, says: "When we build new data centers, including this expansion, we will pay for 100% of our power needs and cover the infrastructure costs directly driven by our operations. To further safeguard energy affordability, we also announced a new Energy Impact Fund to support programs that drive down monthly energy bills for Northeast Alabama families."

Google has separately supported a Nature Conservancy project to restore the Paint Rock River Watershed. The work included stabilizing three eroding sites through revegetation and changes to the surrounding slopes.

Since 2009, Google and its employees have contributed more than $28 million directly to nonprofit organizations in Alabama, according to the company. Google employees have also completed more than 6,000 volunteer hours with organizations in the state since 2016.

The Jackson County campus expansion will continue across 2026 and 2027. Google has not yet published delivery dates for the school STEM kits or the individual training programs intended to reach more than 130,000 Alabamians.