What happened Some AI data centers stuck in long waits for grid connections and new turbines are generating their own electricity with rebuilt jet engines, the New York Times reported.
Why it matters Speed is the draw.
In detail The engines come from retired aircraft and are converted to burn natural gas.
Elon Musk's xAI has installed eight of them in Mississippi to help power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, according to the Times, which cited state permits and satellite imagery.
The units come from ProEnergy, which rebuilds a GE engine commonly found on Boeing jets.
Rystad Energy analyst Audun Martinsen told the Times that jet-powered units can have a data center running in 24 months, while the International Energy Agency says connecting 100 megawatts to the grid in Northern Virginia takes about seven years.
A Mitsubishi Power executive told Bloomberg that most new power capacity is expected to arrive by 2031.
The delays are already costing business: Microsoft pulled out as anchor customer for Nscale's data center in Loughton, England, after the local utility said it could not supply enough power until the early-to-mid 2030s.
Others are following the same path. OpenAI used gas turbines at its first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, which Denver-based startup Crusoe is building and where it ordered 13 ProEnergy converted units in April. Crusoe walked away from a $1.25 billion deal for 29 turbines from Boom Supersonic, which also sells a version of its planned jet's engine as a data center power plant, though it said it still plans to use turbines. The Trump administration is encouraging data centers to generate their own power. The approach has costs: according to the Times, converted jet engines are less efficient and pollute more than turbines built for conventional gas plants, and more of them are needed for the same output. Some experts say that could make them a short-term solution as efficiency and environmental concerns grow in a year or two.
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