NRG said on 6 August that it has aligned on principal commercial terms for a 1.2 GW combined-cycle gas plant in Texas dedicated to a single "global cloud and AI hyperscaler". The initial phase costs $3.2bn — about $2,670/kW — with a potential second phase taking it to 2.4 GW.
Terms, not a contract
"Aligned on principal commercial terms" is not a signed agreement, and the counterparty is not named. The $3.2bn is the build cost of the plant, not the value of a customer contract. Delivery is targeted for late 2029 on a minimum 15-year term.
Paid for standing by
More than 95% of cash flow comes from capacity payments, not energy sales. CEO Robert Gaudette: "We're paid for the megawatts we build and make available, not for how much the data center runs." That structure moves utilisation risk onto the hyperscaler and makes the asset financeable before a single server arrives.
Straight into the Texas freeze
It lands days after Texas froze data-centre grid connections pending an audit of a 474 GW interconnection queue. Asked about the pause, Gaudette said: "I think we're OK." A dedicated merchant plant built for one customer is precisely the structure that routes around a queue.
New build, not redirected supply
This is new generation rather than existing capacity reassigned — the distinction that decides whether hyperscaler demand raises everyone else's bills or pays for its own supply. On a 2029 delivery, the answer arrives after the current buildout is finished. And at roughly $2,670/kW for combined-cycle gas, the cost of self-supply is now a number data-centre operators can put next to a grid connection they cannot get.