Data Centers Are Driving an Alarming Gas Power Expansion in the US
The amount of gas-fired power in development for data centers in the US has nearly doubled in less than a year, new research released Tuesday shows. The findings illustrate just how heavily tech companies are relying on building private fossil fuel plants to power data centers—and how fast artificial intelligence’s energy demand has grown.
Global Energy Monitor, a research firm, has been tracking gas-powered projects that have been announced, are in development, or are under construction in the US. In January, the group found that there were 97 gigawatts of gas projects in development exclusively for data centers at the end of 2025, a massive increase from just 4 gigawatts tracked in early 2024. Now, in an update to the research released Tuesday, the group says that as of mid-2026, that demand pipeline has jumped to more than 189 gigawatts. (A gigawatt can power roughly a million homes.)
“Increasingly, the...
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