US gas-fired power proposals linked to data centres nearly doubled in early 2026, pushing America ahead of China in new gas generation.
Global Energy Monitor reports 378 GW of gas capacity under development, one-third of the global total, largely driven by AI-related data centre demand.
Texas leads with 122 GW, while turbine shortages push developers toward faster, dirtier engine technologies.
The United States has surged ahead of China in building new gas-fired power generation, largely to feed a boom in artificial intelligence (AI), a new analysis by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) released August 25, 2026, found. The country has nearly doubled the gas-fired capacity it is developing to directly power data centres and this development is seen in the very first half of 2026.
At the end of 2025, GEM identified 97 gigawatts (GW) of gas power projects specifically planned for data centres in development.
GEM’s Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker now counts 189 GW of gas-fired capacity in the US including announced, pre-construction, and construction phases. This capacity is intended to meet the explosive increase in electricity demand driven by the booming data center expansion.
Global Energy Monitor has been tracking gas-powered projects in the US that have been announced, are in development, or are under construction.
Driven by rapid data centre expansion, US gas-fired power capacity under development jumped 50 per cent to 378 GW, with Texas leading the race.
Since GEM’s January data release, gas power capacity in development in the US has increased 50 per cent (+127 GW), growing from 252 to 378 GW, accounting for one-third of the global total. If all these plants are built, “the US existing gas fleet would grow by roughly two-thirds, at an estimated cost of over US$647 billion in capital costs.”
Globally the fastest-growing gas power portfolios are in US states with Texas leading the push followed by Ohio, Pennsylvania among others.
Texas accounts for nearly one-third of the US project pipeline with 122 GW of gas-fired power capacity in development—a 51 per cent (41.4 GW) increase in the last six months and more than any other country in the world. Nearly two-thirds of the capacity in development in Texas (77 GW) is planned to directly power data centers.
The boom in gas-fired capacity to power data centres is facing initial hiccups - gas turbines are the most critical and expensive component in building a gas-fired plant. The leading three turbine manufacturers are reporting rising order backlogs and multi-year lead times.
As surging demand for turbines outpaces current global supply, developers racing to power data centres are increasingly turning to reciprocating engines and smaller aeroderivative units. The units can be manufactured and installed far faster in a bid to skip the turbine supply constraints entirely.
According to GEM data, engine capacity in development more than doubled in six months, from 31 GW to 67 GW. For projects in development specifically tied to data centres, engine capacity more than tripled in the last six months, reaching 45 GW, or nearly one-quarter of gas power projects in development for data centers.
Typically deployed during periods of high demand, gas turbines and engines are less efficient than combined-cycle plants and carry higher emissions per unit of electricity generated.
Jenny Martos, project manager for the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker at GEM, said that the “frenzy of gas proposals is running headlong into the hurdles of an already tight gas market. It is nearly impossible nowadays to guess what is a pie in the sky proposal, and what has a real chance of getting built. The projects that eventually clear those hurdles are paying top dollar for turbines, locking in emissions, and pushing up electricity prices.”
Over the past two years, data centre builders have increasingly turned to private power facilities, known as behind-the-meter plants, to bypass lengthy grid connection times.
The Trump administration has encouraged technology companies to bring their own power. On July 23, 2026 President Donald Trump had governors and electricity companies join a voluntary pledge to shield US consumers from higher utility bills from data centres.
The voluntary pledge has been signed by the likes of Microsoft, Meta, Google, and OpenAI, as well as several Republican governors and some of the country’s biggest utilities. The president first announced the pledge with leading AI and tech companies in March 2026.