Economic Development

May 21, 2026

Google announces significant investment in Montgomery County

On Wednesday, May 20, Google announced a $15 billion investment through a new data center and community support, with plans to create thousands of local jobs.

From L: Nekabari Goka, Google; Tara Oglesby, Ameren Missouri; Patricia
D’Costa, Google; Rob Dixon, Ameren Missouri; Ajay Arora, Ameren Missouri;
James O’Mara, Ameren Missouri.

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Google has officially announced plans for a new $15 billion infrastructure investment in Ameren Missouri's service territory. Centered around a data center, the investment aims to benefit the local community through expanded energy affordability programs, thousands of new jobs in the region and more.

The new data center in New Florence will be subject to Ameren Missouri's Powering Missouri Growth Plan. The company’s plan requires large data center customers to cover 100% of the upfront costs to connect to the grid. It also requires them to pay a minimum monthly demand charge equal to at least 80% of their maximum requested demand, even if they use less energy than expected. These provisions are designed to protect consumers and are grounded in Senate Bill 4, passed by the Missouri General Assembly and signed into law by the governor in 2025.

“Google’s major investment in Montgomery County reflects what’s possible through strong partnerships with local and state officials to support significant economic growth,” said Martin J. Lyons Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation. “This is the largest economic development project in Ameren Missouri’s service territory, and our new large load rate structure is designed to ensure we continue to deliver safe, reliable electric service for all customers at the lowest cost possible, with robust protections and generational benefits for the communities we serve.”

Google also announced a $20 million Energy Impact Fund to support programs that drive down monthly energy bills for households in Missouri – focused on Montgomery, Clay, Platte and other counties surrounding Google’s planned data centers in Kansas City and New Florence.

Data centers are not new to the Show-Me State; they have often operated in plain sight. According to the Data Center Coalition, the industry contributed more than $1 billion in tax revenue to state and local governments throughout Missouri in 2024, including $13.3 billion to the state's GDP. In the same year, the group reported that the data center industry supported more than 22,500 direct jobs in the state.

To help prepare Missourians for skilled job opportunities, Google is collaborating with the Construction Laborers and Contractors Joint Training Fund of Eastern Missouri to support the Laborers and Contractors Training Center. This project will enable the center to train more than 2,300 construction laborers, including 1,500 apprentices, over the next two years.