AI Data Centers, Desperate for Electricity, Are Building Their Own Power Plants

October 17, 2025

A data center in Northern Ireland

(WSJ) – Bypassing the grid, at least temporarily, tech companies are creating an energy Wild West; ‘grab yourself a couple of turbines’

Tech companies in the AI race need power, and lots of it. They aren’t waiting around for the archaic U.S. power grid to catch up. 

In West Texas, natural-gas-fired power generation is under construction as part of the $500 billion Stargate project from OpenAI and Oracle. Gas turbines are in use at Colossus 1 and 2, the massive data centers Elon Musk’s xAI is building in Memphis, Tenn. More than a dozen Equinix data centers across the country are using fuel cells for power. 

With the push for AI dominance at warp speed, the “Bring Your Own Power” boom is a quick fix for the gridlock of trying to get on the grid. It’s driving an energy Wild West that is reshaping American power. (Read More)