FirstEnergy, the utility that serves customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York, published its third-quarter results on 27 October, and the number that stands out has nothing to do with earnings. The company puts contracted data center demand at about 7.9 GW, nearly double the level at the end of 2025, and says it is negotiating a further 4 GW or so.
Contracted Is Not The Same As Connected
The figure needs reading with care. In the investor presentation, 7.9 GW is the contracted demand on a view that runs to 2036. The same slide shows 2.19 GW expected in 2026 and about 6.7 GW by 2031. FirstEnergy counts a customer as contracted when there is a contract to build facilities or an electric service agreement. On top of that it counts a pipeline, which brings the total to about 27 GW by 2036, roughly 60% above the end of 2025. By state, contracted demand in the 2036 view is largest in Maryland at about 3 GW, followed by Ohio at about 2.6 GW and Pennsylvania at about 2 GW. West Virginia has only 175 MW contracted but a pipeline that the company says has grown about six times this year, to about 6 GW.
The company also gives a rule of thumb for what this does to its own network: roughly $250 million of transmission upgrades per gigawatt of demand. The upgrades behind contracts signed since February 2026 are not yet in the current investment plan, which stands at $36 billion for 2026 to 2030.
Gas Plant And Bridge Power In West Virginia
West Virginia is where the generation question is open. FirstEnergy has reserved turbines from Siemens for the proposed Maidsville Energy Center, a combined-cycle gas plant, with delivery in 2030. It expects a decision from the state commission in the fourth quarter of 2026 and is negotiating with a data center customer to take the plant's output over the long term. An initial request for proposals has been issued for a further 3 GW of combined-cycle capacity, with an update expected in early 2027.
A turbine slot in 2030 does not help a campus that wants power sooner, and the presentation says so in its own way: the company is also looking at bridge power and temporary behind-the-meter solutions. It does not say with what equipment, and it would be guesswork to name it. But that is the kind of gap that has been filled elsewhere by gas engines and generating sets.
Why A Utility's Slide Matters To A Plant Owner
When a utility itself talks about temporary generation, the hint for a developer is that the wire will arrive later than the building. Anyone who plans a campus in this region should treat onsite generation as a schedule item with its own permits, fuel connection and heat rejection, and not wait for a connection date to settle. Our pages on data centers and power generation cover the equipment side of that choice.
Sources: FirstEnergy third-quarter release (SEC), FirstEnergy investor presentation (SEC)
