Data centers have That’s why demand for gas-fired power in the US has exploded in the past two years, according to new research released Wednesday. More than a third of this new demand, the research found, is clearly linked to gas projects that will rule data centers—the equivalent of energy to power tens of millions of US homes.

the findings from Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that tracks oil and gas developments, comes as the Trump administration both encourages data center construction and loosens pollution regulations on power plants and oil and gas extraction. It also almost certainly means an increase in US greenhouse gas emissions, even if some of the projects tracked by the Global Energy Monitor never get built.

“The implications are huge when you talk about this size of a build-out,” said Jonathan Banks, a senior climate adviser to the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit working to reduce emissions. (The Clean Air Task Force was not involved in the Global Energy Monitor’s research.)

The construction of all the gas-fired power infrastructure that was in progress at the end of last year will increase the US gas fleet by almost 50 percent, according to the Global Energy Monitor’s findings. The US currently have about 565 gigawatts of gas-fired power on the grid. If all projects in the development pipeline are built, it will add nearly 252 gigawatts of gas power to the US fleet. (Estimates vary, but 1 gigawatt can power up to a million homes, depending on regional energy use.)

Data centers have helped nearly triple the demand for gas-fired power in the US over the past two years. When the Global Energy Monitor last released its tracker, in early 2024, it logged about 85 gigawatts of gas-fired power in the US development pipeline. Just over 4 gigawatts of that development is apparently earmarked for data centers. But in 2025, more than 97 gigawatts of demand is projected from projects that will be used to power data centers—almost 25 times higher than the 2024 numbers.

“About a year and a half ago, we started to see this increase in proposals for data centers specifically,” said Jenny Martos, a research analyst at Global Energy Monitor who worked on the report.

To consolidate the research, the Global Energy Monitor reviewed available public data sources on pipeline gas power installations. This includes regulatory filings at the state level, air quality permits, and public notices from companies. (Martos said the group compared its findings to data held by the industry as a benchmark.)

As data center construction continues across the country, developers are scrambling to get power from any and all sources—and utilities are racing to meet projected demand. This means that dirtier power sources are getting a second shot at staying online: coal-fired power plants across the country were recently given extensions to their retirement dates, boosted by coal-friendly policies from the Trump administration.

Natural gas is a cleaner electricity option than coal-fired power, but gas plants emit CO₂ emissions. About 35 percent of US energy-related Co₂ emissions in 2022 from burning natural gas.

“Gas is cleaner to burn than coal, but when you’re talking about this much gas, you’re talking about a lot of CO.₂ involved in it, too,” said Banks.

A bigger concern with natural gas is methane leaks during the extraction process. Methane remains in the atmosphere for a shorter time than CO₂but this is it 80 times stronger in 20 years. Climate scientists say reducing methane emissions in the shorter term is essential to controlling climate change in the long run. It is estimated that oil and gas production accounts for a third of all global methane emissions; the US is largest producer of natural gas in the world.