MW AI's power demands spark new joint GE Vernova-NRG electricity plant project

By Steve Gelsi

NRG flags need for new partnerships to fuel power development

NRG Energy Inc. said Wednesday it'll team up with GE Vernova Inc. and engineering company Kiewit Corp. to build four natural-gas electricity plants to meet increased power needs for data centers and artificial intelligence.

The pairing of the two big power companies comes after rival Constellation Energy Corp. last month announced a plan to buy Calpine to bulk up in order to meet future AI-driven electricity needs.

NRG's stock was up 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday. GE Vernova's stock rose 3.9%.

"The growing demand for electricity in part due to [generative artificial intelligence] and the buildup of data centers means we need to form new, innovative partnerships to quickly increase America's dispatchable [power] generation," said Robert J. Gaudette, executive vice president and president of NRG's business and wholesale operations, in a statement.

The four plants to be brought on line by NRG $(NRG)$, GE Vernova $(GEV.AU)$ and Kiewit are intended to generate about 5 gigawatts of power for the ERCOT wholesale market in Texas and the PJM wholesale market. The plan is to "rapidly" bring that new generation capacity to market, the companies said.

"These industry leaders aim to shorten the concept-to-electron timeline, ensuring that electricity generation capacity is quickly brought online to help meet demand," the companies said.

The first 1.2-gigawatt plant is expected to begin commercial operation in 2029, while the rest will come on line through 2032.

The deal comes after Microsoft Corp. $(MSFT)$ said late last year it would team up with Constellation Energy Corp. $(CEG.UK)$ to re-start idled parts of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Harrisburg, Pa., to meet surging power demand.

Also read: Constellation's stock soared on AI hopes. Now the energy company is using those gains to buy Calpine in $16 billion deal.

Constellation and other energy companies saw their stock prices fall sharply in January when reports of advances by the Chinese AI enterprise DeepSeek raised doubts over whether the artificial-intelligence future would require as much power as previously projected.

But since then the stocks have regained their footing.

Constellation in early January unveiled a plan to acquire Calpine for $16 billion.

-Steve Gelsi

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February 26, 2025 08:34 ET (13:34 GMT)

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