--- title: "FirstEnergy reserved Siemens turbines for a $2.7 billion plant whose customer has not signed" description: "FirstEnergy reserved Siemens turbines for 2030 and asked bids on 3 GW more gas plants, for a data-center customer that has not signed. The transmission plan grows 25% in February, most of it is not for the AI load, and up to $2 billion of new equity stands behind the bet." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-11-02T19:06:46.373Z modified: 2026-11-02T19:06:46.373Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/firstenergy-reserved-siemens-turbines-for-a-2-7-billion-plant-whose-customer-has-not-signed language: en keywords: "FirstEnergy, Data Centers, Natural Gas, Utilities, Capex" --- # FirstEnergy reserved Siemens turbines for a $2.7 billion plant whose customer has not signed > FirstEnergy reserved Siemens turbines for 2030 and asked bids on 3 GW more gas plants, for a data-center customer that has not signed. The transmission plan grows 25% in February, most of it is not for the AI load, and up to $2 billion of new equity stands behind the bet. On October 28 [FirstEnergy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/firstenergy) told investors it has reserved Siemens gas turbines, due in 2030, for a 1,200 MW plant at Maidsville, West Virginia, and [asked for bids on 3 GW of additional gas plants](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/firstenergy-data-center-pipeline-maidsville/873149/) [4]. The customer meant to take that output is unnamed, and the offtake deal is under negotiation, not signed [2]. ![A Siemens worker inspects the rotor of a large gas turbine](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/4cc121dbe9fada3b.jpg) *A Siemens worker checks the rotor of an SGT5-4000F heavy-duty gas turbine. FirstEnergy has reserved Siemens turbines due in 2030 for a 1,200 MW plant at Maidsville, West Virginia, before any customer has signed. (Siemens Pressebild)* The company gave no cost for the plant on its earnings call [1]; trade reporting puts the project near $2.7 billion [4]. A certificate can be approved before the customer signs: the utility expects the West Virginia commission to issue it in the fourth quarter of 2026, while the offtake remains in talks [4]. ## The quarter that paid for it [Third-quarter profit rose to $557 million from $441 million a year earlier](https://www.rackline.news/earnings/report/1pvq9h), on revenue of $4.56 billion, up 9.9% [1]. But 10 of the 15-cent rise in core earnings came from the corporate segment, mainly income-tax benefits [1]. The engine underneath is capital: $36 billion committed for 2026 through 2030, targeting 10.4% annual rate-base growth (growth in the utility's invested capital base, which is what regulated rates pay a return on), with $4.9 billion invested in the first nine months, 23% more than a year earlier [1]. *Chart: **FirstEnergy's capital spending is climbing steadily toward its $36 billion plan** Line chart of FirstEnergy quarterly revenue, net income and capital spending from Q4 2023 to Q3 2026* *FirstEnergy quarterly revenue, net income and capital spending, in billions of dollars, from its SEC filings, Q4 2023 through Q3 2026. Capital spending climbed to $1.59 billion in Q3 2026 while net income moves on tax and regulatory items. Source: FirstEnergy quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved November 2, 2026 [5]. [5]* ## The load is a forecast, the wire is a bill Here is the awkward number. FirstEnergy expects its transmission plan to rise at least 25%, from $19 billion to $23.75 billion or more, when the plan rolls forward to 2027 through 2031 in February [1]. Most of that extra money is reliability work on the existing network, with very little tied to contracted data-center demand, and upgrades for contracts signed since February 2026 are not in the plan at all [1]. The AI load is mostly not here yet. [Contracted demand sits at 2,190 MW for 2026, 6,730 MW for 2031 and 7,880 MW for 2036](https://colocationscout.com/news-firstenergy-contracted-data-center-demand-7900mw-19gw-pipeline.html), against 19,070 MW of pipeline; Utility Dive counts the combined queue at 26 GW this quarter, up from 6.4 GW contracted in the second [2][4]. ## Every signed gigawatt is a line on someone's bill *Chart: **Only 7.9 of 27 GW of FirstEnergy's data-center queue is contracted** Column chart comparing FirstEnergy's contracted and pipeline data-center demand for 2026, 2031 and 2036* *Cumulative data-center demand forecasts on FirstEnergy's system, in megawatts, as of October 27, 2026. Contracted means a construction contract and/or electric service agreement; pipeline is not contracted. Company-claimed figures from the Form 8-K Exhibit 99.2 presentation. Source: Colocation Scout analysis of Form 8-K Exhibit 99.2, October 27, 2026. [2]* At the company's own rule of thumb, about $250 million of network upgrades per gigawatt [2][4], every contracted gigawatt is a line on someone's bill. Ohio ratepayers have noticed: [a discussion thread on FirstEnergy's latest rate increase drew 273 upvotes in a week](https://old.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/1xhlz0u/ohio_electric_bills_rise_as_firstenergy_seeks/) [3]. Management's answer, from CEO Brian Tierney, is that the giant cloud operators (the hyperscalers) are looking well beyond 2030, with demand broad across the six-state territory [4]. That is a bet on load that has not contracted yet. ## Who carries the equity The financing terms are already on the page. The current plan allows up to $2 billion of equity or equity-like financing, new common stock should run about 1% of market value a year, and any extra West Virginia and transmission spending through 2030 is to be funded with up to 35% equity or equity-like securities [1]. If the buyer pays part of the Maidsville plant through a surcharge, the plant still needs about 35% equity or equity-like funding [1]. Shareholders, not the customer, absorb the first tranche of risk on a deal that has not been signed. ## Three dates settle it Three dated events will decide whether the queue becomes billable. Ohio's staff report on the rate case lands November 30 [1]. West Virginia's commission is expected to rule on the Maidsville certificate by December 31 [1]. In February, the roll-forward lifts the transmission plan at least 25% and shows how much of the 27 GW queue becomes rate base, and how much new stock it takes [1]. The decision rule: hold the stock only if the February plan ties the extra transmission money to contracts that are actually signed, and treat an unsigned offtake after the West Virginia order as a signal to wait. Deeper dive: our October 30 piece on the 7.9 GW demand count is [here](https://theinference.org/article/firstenergy-nearly-doubles-contracted-ai-load-in-nine-months-to-7-9-gw-and-ohio-votes-on-who-pays). ## Takeaway FirstEnergy is spending like the AI load is coming: turbines reserved for 2030, a transmission plan growing at least 25%, up to $2 billion of equity behind it, while the customer for the Maidsville plant has not signed. Ohio's staff report lands November 30, West Virginia rules on the certificate by December 31, and the February roll-forward shows how much of the 27 GW queue becomes rate base. ## Sources 1. [Rackline, FirstEnergy's third-quarter profit rises to $557m from $441m, 28 October 2026](https://www.rackline.news/earnings/report/1pvq9h) 2. [Colocation Scout, FirstEnergy contracted data center demand 7.9 GW, 19 GW pipeline (analysis of Form 8-K Exhibit 99.2, 27 October 2026), 1 November 2026](https://colocationscout.com/news-firstenergy-contracted-data-center-demand-7900mw-19gw-pipeline.html) 3. [Reddit r/Cleveland discussion thread, Ohio Electric Bills Rise as FirstEnergy Seeks Additional Rate Increase, 28 October 2026](https://old.reddit.com/r/Cleveland/comments/1xhlz0u/ohio_electric_bills_rise_as_firstenergy_seeks/) 4. [Utility Dive, FirstEnergy data center pipeline increases to 26 GW in Q3, 29 October 2026](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/firstenergy-data-center-pipeline-maidsville/873149/) 5. [FirstEnergy, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 2 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001031296) --- FirstEnergy reserved Siemens turbines for a $2.7 billion plant whose customer has not signed — The Inference. 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