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OH — Power Infrastructure Updated January 8, 2026

Ohio

PJM Natural Gas Nuclear Solar Wind Storage Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

Ohio is at the center of the data center power crunch. The state has approved three behind-the-meter natural gas plants totaling 520 MW exclusively for Meta’s New Albany campus, extended the operating license for the Perry nuclear plant, and is grappling with a 13 GW backlog of data center interconnection requests that AEP Ohio cannot connect until the early 2030s. Solar and wind projects are moving forward, but transmission upgrades are the binding constraint.

Generation Projects

Natural Gas

Ohio has approved three gas plants in Licking County, all serving data centers directly without connecting to the grid.

  • Socrates South Power Generation Project: 200 MW behind-the-meter plant approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board to serve an adjacent Meta data center campus in New Albany.[1]
  • Socrates North Power Generation Facility: Another 200 MW behind-the-meter plant, also approved by OPSB for a neighboring Meta data center site.[2]
  • PowerConneX New Albany project: A 120 MW natural gas plant that received accelerated OPSB review, signaling fast-track approval for data center-adjacent generation.[3]

Nuclear

Ohio’s sole nuclear plant is securing a license extension to keep running through the 2040s.

  • Perry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 license renewal: The NRC issued a safety evaluation in May 2025 and a final environmental impact statement in April 2025, clearing the path for a 20-year extension of the plant’s operating license. No new nuclear build is planned.[4]

Solar

Two major solar projects are online or nearing completion, including a Google PPA.

  • TotalEnergies Montpelier solar farm: The project is nearing completion and will supply Google under a 15-year PPA, connected to the PJM grid.[6]
  • RWE Union Ridge Solar: A 98 MWac solar farm in Licking County, with construction underway as of 2025.[5]

Wind

Ohio’s offshore wind sector remains in demonstration mode.

  • Project Icebreaker: A 20.7 MW offshore wind demonstration project planned eight miles off Cleveland in Lake Erie.[7]

Transmission and Grid

AEP Ohio’s transmission upgrade timeline is the state’s critical bottleneck for data center growth.

  • AEP Central Ohio data center transmission upgrades: AEP’s November 2025 load study shows 36 data center requests totaling 13,022.7 MW, with 32 projects in Central Ohio. All require regional transmission upgrades, pushing most in-service dates to Q4 2031 or Q4 2033.[9]
  • ATSI Dowling-Fulton to Melbourne 345 kV line: OPSB approved a 9.5-mile 345 kV line and new substation in Fulton County, connecting to American Transmission Systems Inc.’s grid.[8]
  • South Branch Solar interconnect: A 2.4-mile transmission line approved by OPSB to connect the South Branch Solar facility to AEP’s Fostoria Central Substation.[8]

Battery Storage

Ohio has approved one major utility-scale battery project.

  • Prairie Flyer Energy Storage: An 85 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Montgomery County, connecting at Dayton Power and Light’s Vandalia Substation.[8]

Data Center Power Agreements

Google has locked in a major renewable PPA tied to its Ohio data center operations.

  • TotalEnergies + Google 15-year PPA: A 15-year contract for 1.5 TWh of renewable electricity from the Montpelier solar farm, explicitly tied to Google’s Ohio data centers.[6]

Interconnection Queue

PJM’s regional queue is clearing, but AEP Ohio’s local cluster process has created a multi-year delay for data center projects.

  • PJM interconnection queue transition: PJM reports ~63 GW remaining in the transition queue, with almost 140 GW processed since 2023 and a target of one to two years for new interconnection agreements.[10]
  • AEP Ohio data center cluster: The utility received 36 formal load study requests totaling 13,022.7 MW. The cluster process and required transmission upgrades push most projects to early-2030s in-service dates, creating a binding local bottleneck.[9]

What to Watch

  • AEP Ohio transmission build timeline: Whether AEP can accelerate the Central Ohio upgrades needed to connect 13 GW of data center load before 2033.
  • Behind-the-meter gas plant trend: If more data center operators follow Meta’s playbook and build dedicated on-site generation to bypass the interconnection queue.
  • PJM queue reform results: Whether PJM’s streamlined process can bring Ohio’s regional queue backlog down to one-to-two-year timelines as promised.

Sources

[1] Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), “OPSB approves construction of Licking County natural gas-fired power plant,” June 9, 2025, https://opsb.ohio.gov/news/opsb-approves-construction-of-licking-county-natural-gas-fired-power-plant (accessed January 8, 2026).

[2] Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), “OPSB authorizes construction of Licking County power plant,” September 18, 2025, https://opsb.ohio.gov/news/opsb-authorizes-construction-of-licking-county-power-plant (accessed January 8, 2026).

[3] Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), “OPSB approves accelerated review of natural gas power plant,” April 17, 2025, https://opsb.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/opsb/news/opsb-approves-accelerated-review-of-natural-gas-power-plant (accessed January 8, 2026).

[4] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “Perry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 – License Renewal Application,” updated 2025, https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/perry (accessed January 8, 2026).

[5] RWE, “RWE breaks ground on second solar farm in Ohio, creating jobs and economic opportunities in Licking County,” May 13, 2025, https://americas.rwe.com/press/2025-05-13-rwe-breaks-ground-on-second-solar-farm-in-ohio/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[6] TotalEnergies, “United States: TotalEnergies to Supply Renewable Power to Google’s Data Centers for 15 Years,” November 12, 2025, https://totalenergies.com/news/press-releases/united-states-totalenergies-supply-renewable-power-googles-data-centers-15 (accessed January 8, 2026).

[7] U.S. Department of Energy, “EA-2045: Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation’s Project Icebreaker Offshore Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration Project,” n.d., https://www.energy.gov/nepa/ea-2045-lake-erie-energy-development-corporations-project-icebreaker-offshore-wind-advanced (accessed January 8, 2026).

[8] Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), “OPSB approves battery energy storage and transmission line projects,” May 16, 2024, https://opsb.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/opsb/news/opsb-approves-battery-energy-storage-and-transmission-line-projects (accessed January 8, 2026).

[9] AEP Ohio, “AEP Ohio Data Center Load Study Letter,” November 7, 2025, https://www.aepohio.com/lib/docs/ratesandtariffs/ohio/AEP-Ohio_DCT_Load_Study_Letter_25.11.7.pdf (accessed January 8, 2026).

[10] PJM Interconnection, “Interconnection Reform Progress Fact Sheet,” updated June 2025, https://www.pjm.com/-/media/DotCom/about-pjm/newsroom/fact-sheets/interconnection-reform-progress-fact-sheet.pdf (accessed January 8, 2026).