A.I. Boom Drives U.S. Plans for Nearly Three Times as Much Gas Power as in 2023

America’s power plans are tilting hard toward gas, and artificial intelligence is the reason. A new analysis from Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group says planned grid-connected gas capacity through 2030 has climbed to 60.4 gigawatts. That’s up from 41.8 gigawatts in December 2025 and just 20.4 gigawatts in early 2023.

The shift is happening even as solar still leads expected new generating capacity. Wind is the one moving the other way: planned additions have dropped 33.9 percent since December 2025, and solar additions have stalled. The report, based on filings with the federal Energy Information Administration, argues that the buildout is being pulled off course by data centers hungry for constant electricity.

Texas is the heavyweight here. It accounts for 33.2 percent of the planned gas capacity, or about 20 gigawatts. Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Mississippi follow, and together the five states make up about 60 percent of the total. New gas plants are planned in 32 states and Washington, D.C., though the tally does not include off-grid gas plants built to serve data centers directly. The authors say those could add tens of gigawatts more.

There’s a health bill attached to all this, too. The analysis cites modeling that links emissions from fossil-fuel power plants, on-site gas turbines and backup diesel generators serving data centers to about 600,000 asthma symptoms and roughly 1,300 premature deaths in 2028 under a high-growth scenario. The gas industry and the U.S. government say quick, around-the-clock power is the point. Local communities keep hearing something else and responding with moratoriums, bans and lawsuits.

The pushback is already real. Data Center Watch says about 120 data center projects worth nearly €170 billion were blocked or delayed in the first half of 2026, and the number of organized citizens’ groups more than doubled to 843 in 49 states. Heatmap News put the value of canceled data centers in 2026 at $260 billion, which is what happens when tech’s appetite runs straight into people’s electric bills and their lungs.