Data center demand drives 66% surge in natural gas power plant costs

Tech companies, including Microsoft and Meta, have been falling in love with natural gas lately, rushing to build power plants fed by the fossil fuel to drive their data centers. But their embrace might be a little too tight — the cost to build one of the facilities has spiked 66% in the last two years, according to a new report from BloombergNEF. While natural gas prices remain low in the U.S. despite the ongoing war in Iran, the price to build a new combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant has risen from less than $1,500 per kilowatt of generating capacity in 2023 to $2,157 last year, the report said. What’s more, it now takes 23% longer to complete a new facility.