The problem with the US gas bonanza for data centers

The country is in the middle of a big buildout of natural gas power plants, and most of the new capacity is being built to run data centers for artificial intelligence. A new project in Pike County, Ohio, developed by SB Energy with OpenAI as the tenant, would add 8 gigawatts of data center capacity backed by 9.2 gigawatts of new gas generation — possibly the largest gas plant in the country. The federal government is involved directly: it's providing land, part of the funding comes from a U.S.-Japan trade agreement, and the government will actually own the power plant once it's built.

Nationally, gas capacity being developed for data centers has nearly doubled this year to about 189 gigawatts, and overall U.S. gas power development is up 50%, putting the country on pace to build twice as much gas capacity as China. At the same time, a group of electric cooperative leaders has called for repealing 2024 EPA rules that limit emissions from gas plants, arguing the rules make it harder to keep up with data center demand.

None of this requires anything from you directly, but it matters for the bigger picture: a wave of new gas plants tied to AI data centers works against efforts to cut power-sector emissions, and it could affect electricity costs and grid planning in areas near these projects. Analysts note real uncertainty here — many announced gas projects lack firm start dates, and financing for projects like the Ohio one is unusually tangled, with OpenAI and Nvidia both investors in the same company building it.