SoftBank to spend an eye-popping $33B to build huge US gas power plant

Source: TechCrunch

Image Credits: Ron and Patty Thomas / Getty Images

In Brief

SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy is expected to build a massive 9.2 GW natural‑gas‑fired power plant on the Ohio‑Kentucky border, according to a Bloomberg report. If completed, it would be the largest power plant in the United States, capable of powering around 7.5 million homes.

The project’s price tag is $33 billion, making it more expensive than recent natural‑gas‑fired plants, whose costs have been rising sharply. It is unclear who will ultimately fund the venture; traditionally, rate‑payers have shouldered the burden for new generating capacity.

The Japanese investor is a partner in the Stargate project with OpenAI. SB Energy has not said whether the new plant would feed directly into the grid or power data centers. OpenAI and SoftBank are building a “proof of concept” data center at GM’s former Lordstown automotive assembly plant (details).

A plant of this size is likely to take years—perhaps a decade—to complete, even before accounting for the shortage of natural‑gas turbines. If finished, the project could emit around 15 million metric tons of CO₂ per year, based on public energy‑use metrics. When methane leaks from the natural‑gas supply chain are included (source), the climate impact could be even larger.