Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 13 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 6 related plants in PECWeb
Released March 04, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
(Editor's note: The second paragraph has been corrected to read Microsoft Corporation instead of Google Incorporated)
Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the general power grid becomes more stretched, the biggest data-center players have made headlines with major off-grid power sourcing.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) is involved in restarting Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant (to be called the Crane Clean Energy Center) in Pennsylvania, and plans to spend $20 billion to colocate data centers with solar, wind and battery power projects; Meta Platforms Incorporated (NASDAQ:META) (Menlo Park, California) is also looking at geothermal in 2025, at an unannounced location(s); natural gas midstream firm Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) (Dallas, Texas) has announced a long-term agreement with Denver, Colorado-based CloudBurst Data Centers for the energy supply to serve a data-center development in Texas; Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, part of Blackstone Incorporated (NYSE:BX) (New York, New York), has agreed to acquire Potomac Energy Center (Potomac), an 813.5-megawatt (MW) natural gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia, to power data centers, and the list goes on. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can click here to read a detailed report on the proposed Crane Clean Energy Center project and here for a related plant profile.
Here is an overview by power source.
Natural Gas
In regions where oil is king, particularly the Permian Basin, natural gas can actually be a nuisance if pipelines designed to carry it get full. For parts of 2024, Waha Hub prices were actually negative, making it literally cheaper to flare excess gas than try to get it to market. Data centers, including bitcoin miners, are finding that connecting directly to wellhead gas checks a lot of boxes, by giving them reliable gas at close to wholesale prices, while preventing the gas they use from being simply flared.
The multi-billion-dollar Stargate project is constructing two buildings in Abilene, Texas, that will be connected to the grid, but will rely on its own simple-cycle gas turbines at least as backups, and possibly for some base power. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for a list of related project reports.
Some utilities are adding combined-cycle plants specifically for data centers, such as Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) as Meta builds a major data center in northern Louisiana. Subscribers can click here for the Meta project reports.
Traditional Plants and Small Modular Reactors
Nuclear power is slowly reviving because it does not emit greenhouse gases during operations. Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Global Electric Power Industry, weighed in on what he is tracking in that sector.
Currently, "Google and Kairos Power (Alameda, California) are in an agreement for Kairos to build small modular reactors (SMRs) and supply power to Google through a power purchase agreement. Amazon.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:AMZN) (Seattle, Washington) has an agreement with X-energy (Rockville, Maryland) to supply power from SMRs," Burt said. Industrial Info is working to confirm those projects. It will be awhile, however, as the earliest any of them could even start construction would be around 2030, he said. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) (Austin, Texas) has also announced SMR power for a major data center.
Regarding full-scale nuclear facilities, in addition to the aforementioned Three Mile Island, Burt says "There is talk of Susquehanna (a nuclear plant operated by Talen Energy (Houston, Texas)) in Pennsylvania being contracted to supply data centers and there are talks regarding a restart of the shutdown Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa." Although Duane Arnold may not be directly connected to a data center, but increasing data-center power demands are likely a factor in its potential reopening.
Furthermore, "Santee Cooper (Moncks Corner, South Carolina) has two partially finished reactors at their Summer Nuclear station in South Carolina and have recently released bids for a company to buy that project and finish it. And Palisades in Michigan is restarting to meet increased electricity demand," Burt said.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Power Project Database can learn more by viewing the Palisades project report.
Other Options
Fuel cells come into the mix as grid backups. Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) (San Jose, California) has expanded a 10-year agreement with Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) (Redwood City, California) to provide fuel cell-based power backup to the grid at the latter's International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers. Bloom has 75 MW already operational and another 30 MW under construction at 19 IBX centers. A Bloom press release said its fuel cells "provide an option when faced with grid constraints of capacity or distribution."
Next
In the final installment of this AI/grid series, we will examine the costs-vs-benefits of AI and machine learning (ML) and the ways their electricity demands challenge the energy transition.
Subscribers can click here for the project reports mentioned in this article and click here for the plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--As the general power grid becomes more stretched, the biggest data-center players have made headlines with major off-grid power sourcing.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) is involved in restarting Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant (to be called the Crane Clean Energy Center) in Pennsylvania, and plans to spend $20 billion to colocate data centers with solar, wind and battery power projects; Meta Platforms Incorporated (NASDAQ:META) (Menlo Park, California) is also looking at geothermal in 2025, at an unannounced location(s); natural gas midstream firm Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) (Dallas, Texas) has announced a long-term agreement with Denver, Colorado-based CloudBurst Data Centers for the energy supply to serve a data-center development in Texas; Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, part of Blackstone Incorporated (NYSE:BX) (New York, New York), has agreed to acquire Potomac Energy Center (Potomac), an 813.5-megawatt (MW) natural gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia, to power data centers, and the list goes on. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can click here to read a detailed report on the proposed Crane Clean Energy Center project and here for a related plant profile.
Here is an overview by power source.
Natural Gas
In regions where oil is king, particularly the Permian Basin, natural gas can actually be a nuisance if pipelines designed to carry it get full. For parts of 2024, Waha Hub prices were actually negative, making it literally cheaper to flare excess gas than try to get it to market. Data centers, including bitcoin miners, are finding that connecting directly to wellhead gas checks a lot of boxes, by giving them reliable gas at close to wholesale prices, while preventing the gas they use from being simply flared.
The multi-billion-dollar Stargate project is constructing two buildings in Abilene, Texas, that will be connected to the grid, but will rely on its own simple-cycle gas turbines at least as backups, and possibly for some base power. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for a list of related project reports.
Some utilities are adding combined-cycle plants specifically for data centers, such as Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) (New Orleans, Louisiana) as Meta builds a major data center in northern Louisiana. Subscribers can click here for the Meta project reports.
Traditional Plants and Small Modular Reactors
Nuclear power is slowly reviving because it does not emit greenhouse gases during operations. Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Global Electric Power Industry, weighed in on what he is tracking in that sector.
Currently, "Google and Kairos Power (Alameda, California) are in an agreement for Kairos to build small modular reactors (SMRs) and supply power to Google through a power purchase agreement. Amazon.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:AMZN) (Seattle, Washington) has an agreement with X-energy (Rockville, Maryland) to supply power from SMRs," Burt said. Industrial Info is working to confirm those projects. It will be awhile, however, as the earliest any of them could even start construction would be around 2030, he said. Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) (Austin, Texas) has also announced SMR power for a major data center.
Regarding full-scale nuclear facilities, in addition to the aforementioned Three Mile Island, Burt says "There is talk of Susquehanna (a nuclear plant operated by Talen Energy (Houston, Texas)) in Pennsylvania being contracted to supply data centers and there are talks regarding a restart of the shutdown Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa." Although Duane Arnold may not be directly connected to a data center, but increasing data-center power demands are likely a factor in its potential reopening.
Furthermore, "Santee Cooper (Moncks Corner, South Carolina) has two partially finished reactors at their Summer Nuclear station in South Carolina and have recently released bids for a company to buy that project and finish it. And Palisades in Michigan is restarting to meet increased electricity demand," Burt said.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Power Project Database can learn more by viewing the Palisades project report.
Other Options
Fuel cells come into the mix as grid backups. Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) (San Jose, California) has expanded a 10-year agreement with Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) (Redwood City, California) to provide fuel cell-based power backup to the grid at the latter's International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers. Bloom has 75 MW already operational and another 30 MW under construction at 19 IBX centers. A Bloom press release said its fuel cells "provide an option when faced with grid constraints of capacity or distribution."
Next
In the final installment of this AI/grid series, we will examine the costs-vs-benefits of AI and machine learning (ML) and the ways their electricity demands challenge the energy transition.
Subscribers can click here for the project reports mentioned in this article and click here for the plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
