FirstEnergy data center pipeline increases to 26 GW in Q3

Utility Dive · Ethan Howland · 2026-10-29 09:00 UTC

Two FirstEnergy utilities reserved combined-cycle turbines for a 1.2-GW data center-focused project in West Virginia and issued a solicitation for an additional 3 GW, company officials said.

FirstEnergy’s long-term pipeline of data center load — contracted and other potential load — grew 4.8% to 26 GW in the third quarter from the second quarter, according to an earnings presentation on Wednesday.

FirstEnergy is seeing broad interest across its system, including in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Brian Tierney, FirstEnergy chairman, president and CEO, said during an earnings conference call.

The first wave of data centers are expected to be online in the 2030 timeframe, but “the large customers that you might think of, the hyperscalers, the legitimate developers, are looking well beyond that, and they’re doing so across our service territory,” Tierney said.

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