USDA’s Record $3.3B Power Loan Goes Where Google Bought Land

On 14 October 2026 US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced a $3.3 billion loan to Oglethorpe Power Corporation to help finance its Smarr Combined-Cycle electric generating facility in Monroe County, Georgia. The US Department of Agriculture said the loan “is the largest ever delivered in the history of USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service.”

Two days later Reuters reported that the loan “could potentially benefit data centers” in the state, according to USDA’s head of rural development. Reuters noted that last year Google “purchased nearly 1,000 acres of land” in Monroe County for a data center. Oglethorpe Power told Reuters the plant “is not dedicated to serving a data center.”

This Week In The AI Supercycle · VIDEO

The Business Engineer’s explainer for the week of 18 to 24 October 2026, including the grid becoming the buyer’s job. It was made before this piece and does not discuss USDA’s loan.

Business Pill · POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT

A short explainer of power purchase agreements: a steady price for power. It teaches the general idea only and says nothing about USDA, Oglethorpe or Google.

The Loan

USDA said Rollins announced the loan during a visit to the construction site. The release says the United States “is experiencing a surge in electricity demand from rapid technological advancements,” citing President Trump, and that “lower-cost financing will help keep electricity affordable for Georgia families.”

Oglethorpe Power is a generation cooperative “owned by 38 electric distribution cooperatives that serve nearly 5 million people across Georgia,” according to the release. Its president and chief executive, Annalisa Bloodworth, said in the release that the loan will let it “build the reliable generation Georgia families, farms and businesses need at a lower cost.” The release does not mention data centers.

The Plant

Oglethorpe’s project page describes a two-unit natural gas plant that “will generate 1,425 megawatts of reliable electricity for Georgia homes and businesses.” It is being built on land Oglethorpe already owns, near its existing Smarr Energy Facility.

The page puts the capital investment at “more than $3 billion” and says “Onsite work began in September 2025, with commercial operation expected in 2029.” It lists GE Vernova 7HA.03 gas turbines and says the plant uses air-cooled condensers instead of cooling towers to cut water use.

Sources: as listed in each row.

The Data Center Question

Glen Smith, USDA’s Under Secretary for Rural Development, said the plant will serve 38 rural utility cooperatives and support growing industry in the state, including potentially data centers, Reuters reported. Smith said rural areas can benefit from data centers, Reuters reported, but that the infrastructure has to be in place first.

Oglethorpe spokesperson Blair Romero said in an email to Reuters: “This facility is not dedicated to serving a data center. The new facility will help our Member cooperatives meet growing electricity demand across their communities.” We found no statement from Google about buying power from the plant.

More Requests Than Money

Smith told Reuters he planned to meet congressional appropriators and ask for more money for such loans. “We have almost $8.6 billion in requests, and we’re only into our fiscal year one month,” Smith said.

Reuters reported that the Trump administration “has not sought to regulate data center construction, instead asking tech companies to pledge not to pass on electricity costs to consumers.”

Connecting the Coverage

Our Amazon nuclear piece covered a different way of paying for new power: American Electric Power said on 19 October 2026 that Amazon would fund development work on a 960-megawatt advanced nuclear plan in Indiana and intends to buy the power under a contract covering the facility’s costs. Our Texas air-permit piece covered on-site power: SemiAnalysis said six Texas data center campuses planning their own generation, 8.7GW in all, need air permits while Governor Greg Abbott’s permit freeze is in force.

What this piece adds is a third payer: a federal rural lender financing new generation that a USDA official links to possible data center demand, while the cooperative building it says the plant is not dedicated to one.

The Structural Read

As we read it, the release and the interview say different things: USDA’s release of 14 October does not mention data centers, and the link comes from Glen Smith’s interview with Reuters two days later.

As we read it, demand for this kind of money is larger than this loan: Smith told Reuters USDA has almost $8.6 billion in requests one month into its fiscal year and planned to ask appropriators for more.

As we read it, the plant is years away: Oglethorpe’s page says onsite work began in September 2025 and commercial operation is expected in 2029.

Three Implications

FOR GEORGIA’S COOPERATIVES USDA says Oglethorpe is owned by 38 distribution cooperatives serving nearly 5 million people, and Bloodworth said the loan lets it build generation “at a lower cost.”

FOR DATA CENTER DEVELOPERS Reuters reported that Google bought nearly 1,000 acres in Monroe County for a data center last year; we found no statement from Google about buying power from the plant.

FOR FEDERAL LENDING Smith told Reuters he planned to ask congressional appropriators for more money for such loans, with almost $8.6 billion in requests already in hand.

The Business Engineer Lens

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework The State of AI Data Centers.

The analysis puts it this way: “Companies that solve the power equation will dominate the AI era; those that don’t will watch their chips sit idle.”

As we read it, this loan shows a public lender in that power equation: USDA finances generation that its own official links to possible data center demand. The analysis was published in December 2025 and does not discuss this loan.

What Is Not Established

No data center customer for the plant has been named. The USDA release does not mention data centers, and the link comes from Smith’s interview with Reuters. The loan’s interest rate and term are not given in the release. Reuters wrote that USDA announced the loan “on Tuesday,” while the release is dated 14 October 2026. We did not contact USDA, Oglethorpe Power or Google.

The Bottom Line

USDA has made its largest Rural Utilities Service loan, $3.3 billion, for a 1,425-megawatt gas plant in the Georgia county where, Reuters reported, Google bought land for a data center. A USDA official says data centers could benefit, Oglethorpe says the plant is not dedicated to one, and Smith told Reuters that USDA already has almost $8.6 billion in loan requests one month into its fiscal year.