Google formally announced on May 20 that it is investing $15 billion in Missouri that will include work on a data center in New Florence.

Google had previously been announced as the data center developer for Project Spade in January.

Project Spade will be located in the southeast quadrant of the Interstate 70 and Highway 19 interchange consisting of approximately 780 acres in Montgomery County and 130 acres in New Florence.

During the announcement at the Laborers and Contractors Training Center in High Hill, Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said that the combination of leadership and local talent across the state has everyone at Google excited.

“We want to be your partners,” Porat said. “We want to be partners for the long-haul and we want to be partners in a way that delivers for the community.”

Porat said the data center in New Florence will create thousands of construction jobs during the build-out phase and hundreds of full time jobs once it is operational. She also said that Google is making a commitment to the Laborers and Contractors Training Center to allow them to train 2,300 construction laborers including 1,500 apprentices during the next couple of years.

One of the other goals of Google, she said, is to expand energy capacity and protect affordability for all ratepayers. She said the company has contracted to bring more than 1 gigawatt of new power generation to Missouri and is working with Ameren to increase that figure another 500 megawatts. She said as part of Google’s commitment to protect all ratepayers the company will be paying for 100 percent of the power they use and for any additional infrastructure that is needed, which she said would help to make the grid more resilient.

Porat said Google is also creating a $20 million Energy Impact Fund to provide funds to local organizations who work with residents to help drive down their monthly energy bills. She said the company recently announced its first grantee, which is the North East Community Action Corporation. NECAC will use grant funds to undertake home repairs and energy efficiency upgrades in and around Montgomery County.

According to a press release submitted as part of the announcement, Google replenishes more freshwater than it consumes by supporting local watershed projects like the Missouri SWAN Smart Irrigation Initiative.

Gov. Mike Kehoe said the $15 billion investment by Google is the largest single investment in the state’s history. He reiterated some of Porat’s points on the number of jobs the data center would provide upon construction and final completion, noting that there are already 200 employees on site on the project.

Following the presentation, Kehoe said during an interview that the state is trying to make all of its processes from the county level on up easier so that the state doesn’t get in the way of businesses. He touted last year’s Senate Bill 4, which related in part to large-load electric usage as one of the catalysts for Google looking at the state.

Kehoe also spoke about the opposition to such projects throughout the state and country and quoted President Donald Trump’s assertion that AI and data centers are the space race of our time.

“This is part of our infrastructure as we move forward,” Kehoe said. “I understand the concerns. I think the county has done a great job of addressing a lot of those concerns. There has been a lot of misinformation out there.”

Montgomery County Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston also spoke during the event.
“All I can say is wow,” Poston said to the audience, touting the data center as a great opportunity for the county.

The original site plan for the Google facility was approved in November, but amendments were later made to the proposal, which calls for two 800,000-square-foot buildings utilizing a closed-loop air-cooled system.

The original proposal called for two wells to be located on-site, primarily for employee water use. Multiple stormwater management ponds are proposed within the project. The site will be fully fenced and include both an Ameren-owned substation and a Google owned substation.
The site will also include a security guard station, visitor center with parking, a pump house and water filtration building.