The growing population of AI-driven data centers and their voracious appetite for electrical power haven’t been lost on natural gas players exploring new market opportunities. Not when most of the nation’s power is generated by natural gas (42%) with another 133 gas-fired plants in the works. Not when tech companies are in a race to build more powerful machines that will burn even more energy while also competing to lock down stable, massive power supplies.

 Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest on the AI boom driving demand for electrical power where the U.S. lays claim to the most data centers in the world—2,800 across the country—and more are ramping up. This, in addition to more crypto mining companies and tech-intensive manufacturing that already have grid operators on notice.

Large midstream operators like Williams and Energy Transfer are working with data center operators to build natural gas pipelines tied directly to their facilities that will generate power on site. Co-location between power plants and data centers is set to become a big thang to privatize all this electrical consumption.

As a producer, perhaps no one knows this better than CEO Toby Rice, whose Pa.-based EQT operates the nation’s largest natural gas basin and where neighbor state Va., is home to the “Data Center Capital of the World.” Rice sees AI as the largest new source of natural gas demand. We agree. The AI boom could well trigger a new natural gas boom.

Here at home, REC is attracting interest from AI developers to help with physical gas connections and commercial gas supply consulting. Something tells us we’re just getting started.