US gas plant plans surge 44% as data centers drive demand — SkimNews
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- Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group report planned US grid-connected gas capacity has hit 60.4 GW through 2030, up 44% from 41.8 GW in December 2025, based on filings to the federal Energy Information Administration.
- Planned wind additions have dropped 33.9% since December 2025 and planned solar additions have stalled, while the proposed gas capacity alone exceeds the total generating capacity of every US state except Texas, California, and Florida.
- Texas accounts for 33.2% of proposed new gas additions through 2030 — roughly a third of the national total — which would expand the state's existing gas generating capacity by nearly 25%; Louisiana (6.6 GW), Pennsylvania (4.4 GW), Oklahoma (3 GW), and Mississippi (2.6 GW) round out the top five, together representing about 60% of planned additions.
- Off-grid gas plants built to supply data centers are not counted in the 60.4 GW figure and could add tens of gigawatts more, leaving the tally as a partial snapshot of the buildout.
- Modeling cited by the groups estimates roughly 600,000 asthma symptom cases and about 1,300 premature deaths in 2028 under a high-growth data-center scenario, accounting for pollution from fossil-fuel plants, on-site gas turbines, and backup diesel generators.
- Andre Delattre of The Public Interest Network warned that new gas plants' long lifespans could lock the US into decades of fossil-fuel dependence, while Johanna Neumann of Environment America said building them jeopardizes health, the climate, and future generations.
- Proposed gas capacity has nearly tripled since early 2023, per the groups, signaling how rapidly US power-industry plans are shifting toward gas as electricity demand climbs.
Why it matters: Data-center-driven gas buildout is outpacing clean-energy additions: planned wind has dropped 33.9% in eight months while gas is up 44%, and 60% of the proposed new gas capacity is concentrated in five states led by Texas. Because gas plants operate for decades, this pipeline — plus tens of GW of off-grid gas not in the tally — risks cementing fossil-fuel lock-in and the associated public-health toll, estimated at ~1,300 premature deaths and ~600,000 asthma cases in a 2028 high-growth scenario.
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