Data Centers Are Driving a New U.S. Natural Gas Buildout
The expansion of data centers to power the artificial intelligence boom is causing a natural gas revival in the United States. Planned gas-fired power capacity tied to data centers nearly doubled in the first half of 2026 alone, as Big Tech players turn to massive new power plants to support the insatiable demand of hyperscale data center campuses.
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Key Facts
- Fact 1: Planned gas-fired power capacity tied to data centers nearly doubled in the first half of 2026 alone, as Big Tech players turn to massive new power plants to support the insatiable demand of hyperscale data center campuses.
- Fact 2: And, not to be left out, Microsoft is currently in talks with Chevron for a $7 billion gas-powered data center in Texas.
- Fact 3: A June report from Business Insider found that "if all data centers permitted through 2025 come online, they will use between 224.3 terawatt-hours and 358.8 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, an increase of 50% over the previous year across the range." For reference, that's approximately as much energy as all of Mexico -- a country with a population of more than 130 million people -- uses in a year.
- Fact 4: As of the first six months of 2026, the United States had 378 GW of gas-fired power capacity in development, up 50 percent in just six months, according to Global Energy Monitor.
The expansion of data centers to power the artificial intelligence boom is causing a natural gas revival in the United States. Planned gas-fired power capacity tied to data centers nearly doubled in the first half of 2026 alone, as Big Tech players turn to massive new power plants to support the insatiable demand of hyperscale data center campuses.
Amazon is currently building a gas-fired power plant in Texas that is set to become the single-biggest source of power-related emissions in the entire United States if it’s developed according to current plans, which include seven gas plants. In addition, just this month, Nvidia announced that it would team up with Japan’s SoftBank and the federal government to build the United States’ largest fossil-fuel plant to power an Ohio project by OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT. And, not to be left out, Microsoft is currently in talks with Chevron for a $7 billion gas-powered data center in Texas.
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