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- New plants are expected to start up between 2029 and 2032
- Energy industry anticipates surge in demand from data centers
By Josh Saul
GE Vernova Inc., NRG Energy Inc. and Kiewit Corp. agreed to develop up to 5.4 gigawatts of gas-fired power plants, with one NRG executive saying that artificial intelligence is driving an electricity “demand supercycle.”
The plants would start up between 2029 and 2032 and could located in Texas or the eastern US, according to NRG’s earnings release Wednesday. The company also entered into preliminary agreements with data center developers Menlo Equities and PowLan for 400 megawatts with the potential to scale up to more than 6 gigawatts.
NRG has about a dozen sites that can support large data centers with around 7.5 gigawatts of total capacity. “These are ideal for hyperscalers,” Robert Gaudette, president of NRG’s business and wholesale operations, said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday. “We are actively engaged in discussions and they remain our primary focus for near-term execution.”
One gigawatt, roughly the output of a typical nuclear reactor, can power about 750,000 homes.
Forecasts for massive electricity consumption driven by data centers and AI have been a boon for natural gas, buoying energy providers like NRG and gas turbine manufacturers such as GE Vernova. The expected demand boom comes as US President Donald Trump voices strong support for fossil fuels including natural gas at the expense of clean energy sources.
But questions have emerged about how much power AI will actually consume. A model from Chinese company DeepSeek appears to be more efficient than competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, prompting some analysts to ask whether the significant electricity demand projections for the US will remain intact.
Asked about DeepSeek, NRG Chief Executive Officer Larry Coben said data center demand remained robust. “We have more people beating down our doors,” he said. “All the hyperscalers are either reaffirming or expanding their capital commitments.”
Read more: Power-Linked Stocks Rebound on Report of Meta’s $200B AI Plan
NRG shares rose 9.3% at 10:03 a.m. in New York, while GE Vernova climbed 6.6%. Power-linked stocks broadly advanced on Wednesday after a report said Meta Platforms Inc. was in discussions to build a new data center campus for its AI projects that could cost more than $200 billion.
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