Williams Sells 49% of Five Ohio Gas-Fired Power Plants for $5.34B
Pipeline giant Williams announced a $5.34 billion investment led by Blackstone Credit & Insurance, in partnership with Apollo and KKR, to fund its five behind-the-meter Power Innovation projects: Socrates, Apollo, Aquila, Socrates the Younger, and Neo. All five projects are located in Ohio and will use Utica (or Marcellus) shale gas. In exchange for the money, the investors receive a 49% noncontrolling ownership stake, while Williams retains 51% ownership and operational control, plus a buyout right between years 7 and 14. While the headline numbers focus on high-finance metrics, the practical, on-the-ground effect of this deal directly reshapes the Appalachian natural gas landscape, pipeline dynamics, and the regional race to power the AI-driven data center boom. Read More “Williams Sells 49% of Five Ohio Gas-Fired Power Plants for $5.34B”
Northeastern states outside established data center hubs are positioning for major growth that could reshape regional natural gas demand. Surprisingly, blue state Maryland is emerging as a secondary data center hub, supported by large hyperscale projects, new gas-fired generation, and transmission upgrades. Delaware is constrained by coastal regulation, while Massachusetts, Connecticut, and even the Communist state of Rhode Island are seeing proposals (although there is stiff opposition in all of those states). Maine is weighing large-load rules as a mill conversion advances, and New Hampshire and Vermont remain limited. 
Over the years, we have chronicled the far-left Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) lawfare against fracking, gas-fired power plants, and pipelines (
In April, MDN reported that PowerTransitions, an independent power producer specializing in redeveloping legacy power facilities, had agreed to acquire five New York gas-fired power plants — Batavia, Hillburn, Massena, Shoemaker, and Sterling — totaling 323 megawatts (MW) from Alliance Energy Group affiliates (see 
In February, MDN alerted you to yet another gas-fired power plant project that Williams (the pipeline giant) was adding to its roster. Williams entered the gas-fired power plant space (actually building and operating them) in April 2025 via a subsidiary called Will-Power (see 
Northampton Capital Partners, a middle-market infrastructure asset manager with roughly $1.4 billion under management, has partnered with New Jersey–based Olympus Power to form a joint venture called Winslow Power. Winslow has agreed to acquire three natural gas–fired power plants totaling 752 MW from a Vistra Corp. subsidiary: the 541-MW Casco Bay combined-cycle facility in Veazie, Maine; the 108-MW Beaver Falls dual-fuel turbine in Croghan, NY; and the 103-MW Syracuse dual-fuel turbine in Solvay, NY. Pending regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close later in 2026. And yes, there is a Marcellus/Utica connection in this story. 
Chestnut Run Energy plans to construct a $2 billion natural gas-powered electric power plant in Carroll County, Ohio, capable of powering up to 900,000 homes (see 
Earlier this month, Homer City Generation announced the early completion of demolition and excavation work at its Indiana County, Pennsylvania, site, marking a major milestone in transforming the former coal-fired power plant into a gas-fired power plant and AI data center complex (see 
In March, we told you about a deal made by Maryland Eastern Shore developer TeraWulf to acquire the retired Morgantown Generating Station in Charles County (on the Potomac River), proposing to transform the site into a massive natural gas-powered data center campus (see 
Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) launched a sweeping investigation into how power grids and utilities divide the soaring costs of supplying electricity to data centers. FERC issued six “show-cause” orders directing regional grid operators—PJM, SPP, MISO, CAISO, ISO New England, and NYISO—to prove that data center connection rates are “just and reasonable” and shield ordinary ratepayers from cost-shifting, or face federal fixes. FERC wants regional grids to speed up data center connections while protecting residential ratepayers. And they WILL do it, or else. 
Pennsylvania’s Senate Republicans are speaking truth to power, calling out PA Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro’s policies as one of the primary reasons why PA residents pay more for electricity. And Joshie doesn’t like being called out. State Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward argues the state is losing out under a roughly $325-per-megawatt-day price cap on PJM Interconnection’s capacity auctions, approved by the federal government after a lawsuit by Gov. Josh Shapiro (see