US utilities lift capex plans as data center load surges

· Energy · United States

Three major US investor-owned utilities used their third-quarter results to raise or refocus multi-year spending plans on the back of rapid data center demand growth. American Electric Power lifted its investment plan by 30%, citing contracted large loads up 22% to 84 GW, driven mainly by a 10.4-GW data center in Ohio being developed by SB Energy. Xcel Energy rolled out a $70 billion, five-year capital plan centred on renewables, including 9.2 GW of renewable capacity and 2.3 GW of storage. FirstEnergy said its data center pipeline rose to 26 GW in the quarter; two of its utilities reserved combined-cycle turbines for a 1.2-GW data center-focused project in West Virginia and issued a solicitation for a further 3 GW. The moves show how load growth from computing is reshaping utility planning and generation procurement.

Why it matters：Load growth from data centers is reversing years of flat US electricity demand and pushing utilities to commit record capital to both gas turbines and renewables, a shift that will shape equipment order books and grid investment for years.

Key points

  • AEP's contracted large loads rose 22% to 84 GW, led by a 10.4-GW Ohio data center from SB Energy
  • Xcel's five-year plan includes 9.2 GW of renewables and 2.3 GW of storage
  • FirstEnergy reserved combined-cycle turbines for a 1.2-GW West Virginia data center project

Sources (original reporting)

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