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.
FirstEnergy’s overall data center pipeline jumped to 6 GW in West Virginia, up from 4.3 GW three months ago, according to the company.
Two FirstEnergy utilities — Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison Co. — are seeking permission from the West Virginia Public Service Commission to build the Maidsville Energy Center, a roughly $2.7 billion project that includes a 1,200-MW, gas-fired power plant and three solar projects totaling 70 MW. FirstEnergy expects the PSC will issue a certificate for the project in the fourth quarter, according to Tierney.
The utilities have signed a reservation agreement with Siemens Energy for turbines for the project, with a 2030 delivery date, according to FirstEnergy’s quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They have also issued a request for proposals for 3 GW of combined-cycle turbines for power plants that would serve data center load in the state, Tierney said.
“All other major contracts are on track to be signed shortly after we receive a commission order,” Tierney said. “Maidsville is an important project on its own, but we see it as the first of a broader set of opportunities in West Virginia.”
FirstEnergy is investigating potential “bridge” generation that could be built quickly to serve data centers while transmission infrastructure and larger power plants are in development and under construction, according to Tierney.
“What we're seeing from customers is, if they want a 1-GW type campus, they're looking at seeing if they can start with a building that might be about 100 MW in the near term,” Tierney said.
Possible bridge options include reciprocating engines, fuel cells and batteries, he said, and once a final generating solution is in place, the smaller assets could be moved to other large load projects.
FirstEnergy expects that the data center demand across its six-state footprint will drive up its transmission investments by at least 25%, or $4.75 billion, over its current $19 billion transmission investment plan, Tierney said.
A gigawatt of data center load requires roughly $250 million in transmission upgrades, FirstEnergy estimates.
Meanwhile, FirstEnergy’s weather-adjusted load increased 1.2% to 40.1 million MWh in the third quarter and demand increased 1% to 148.6 million MWh over the previous 12 months, according to the earnings presentation.
“We are seeing broad strength in manufacturing activity, including metals, oil and gas, and chemical sectors, along with increasing data center demand,” FirstEnergy CFO Jon Taylor said on the conference call.
On the financial front, FirstEnergy’s utilities earned a combined 9.5% return on equity, with a 53% equity share and a $29.8 billion rate base over the last 12 months, according to the presentation. That’s up from an 8.8% ROE, with a 52% equity ratio and a $26.3 billion rate base over a 12-month period in 2023.
FirstEnergy’s net income jumped to $557 million on $4.5 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up from $441 million and $4.1 billion in the same period last year. The increase was partly driven by income tax benefits and higher customer demand, according to the presentation.
FirstEnergy’s utilities have about 6 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.
