The AI boom has a power problem, and the industry’s solution is to stop waiting for the grid altogether. Data-center developers are increasingly building their own natural gas plants on-site, a strategy known as “behind-the-meter” generation that lets them sidestep years-long utility connection queues.
At least 46 data centers are now pursuing this approach, with a combined capacity target of 56 GW. To put that in perspective, 56 GW is roughly enough to power 42 million homes.
The players going off-grid
The biggest names in AI are leading the charge. Elon Musk’s xAI is running on-site gas turbines at its Colossus data-center sites. OpenAI’s Stargate project in West Texas aims for over 1 GW of capacity with natural gas supplementation. Meta has struck multiple deals with Williams, a pipeline company that has pivoted aggressively into direct power provision.
Texas is the epicenter of this buildout. The state accounts for roughly 80.6 GW of gas-fired power capacity currently in development. Of that, about 40 GW is targeted directly at data centers. Nearly half of all new Texas power plants will serve data centers specifically.
