SoftBank asks PJM to study 10-GW Ohio data center complex under state agreement

SoftBank has asked PJM to study a 10-gigawatt data center complex in Ohio under a state agreement approach.

The filing shows 9.6 GW of added load, 10.2 GW of SB Energy gas-fired generation through 2032, and three new AEP Ohio 765-kilovolt lines.

The study would run through the state agreement approach rather than a standard interconnection queue request, evaluating load and generation as one package. The generation is sized above the load it would serve, and the three 765-kV lines would be new construction.

Oracle and Google each moved data center power projects forward this week with generation already attached. Oracle asked FERC to expedite a 17.8-mile gas pipeline in New Mexico, the Green Chile line, to carry about 400 million cubic feet a day to on-site fuel cells for Project Jupiter. Google signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with American Electric Power for a 702-megawatt Wyoming fuel cell plant; AEP owns 92% of Cheyenne Fuel Cell and funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners own 8%. The power price was not disclosed.

PowerHouse and Big Watt won approval in Taylor, Texas for a 1-gigawatt gas-backed campus on 664 acres in Williamson County. The campus pairs a 750-megawatt on-site plant with a 500-megawatt first phase and first power targeted for the first half of 2028. SoftBank's Ohio request is roughly ten times that load.