OpenAI Signs 10 GW Ohio Data Center Lease, Utica Gas Wins Big

It's official. In June, we told you OpenAI was in "advanced negotiations" to lease the gargantuan 10-gigawatt (GW) data center campus rising on federal land in Piketon (Pike County), Ohio (see OpenAI in Talks to Lease OH Data Center, Largest Gas Power in U.S.). Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported the ink is dry. OpenAI has signed a 20-year lease for the whole 10 GW campus with SB Energy, the SoftBank subsidiary developing the site — and chipmaker Nvidia is standing behind the deal with a financial backstop worth up to $105 billion. Why should Utica landowners care about a Silicon Valley lease? Because the electricity feeding this monster comes from a 9.2-GW natural gas power plant, and that gas has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is under your feet.

---

To view this content, log into your member account. (Not a member? Join Today!)