Midwest Grid Operator Prioritizes Natural Gas to Meet Surging AI and Industrial Power Demand
December 1, 2025
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers, coupled with new manufacturing plants and electric vehicle adoption, is placing unprecedented strain on the U.S. power grid. In response, regional grid operators are being forced to accelerate the approval of new generation capacity to ensure reliability, a move that is reshaping the nation's energy mix and sparking debate over the pace of the clean energy transition.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which manages the grid for Indiana and much of the central United States, is fast-tracking power plant projects through its interconnection queue to meet this soaring demand. In a significant step this past September, MISO approved ten projects for expedited connection. While half of these projects by number were clean energy sources—including solar, wind, and battery storage—natural gas dominated in terms of raw capacity. Gas-fired plants accounted for approximately 80 percent of the total megawatts granted swift access to the grid.
This trend is continuing in the current approval cycle. While none of the initially fast-tracked projects are located in Indiana, at least six projects within the state are now eligible for similar expedited treatment. The proposed projects in Indiana, submitted by utilities NIPSCO and Duke Energy, are similarly split between natural gas and battery storage technologies. However, in a reflection of the scale required, about 73 percent of the total proposed megawatts from these Indiana projects would be supplied by natural gas generation.
The strategy has raised concerns within the renewable energy sector. Developers argue that the urgent demand from power-intensive users like AI data centers is allowing fossil fuel projects to effectively "jump the line" in interconnection queues, despite a much larger volume of clean energy projects awaiting approval. This prioritization, they warn, could lock in carbon-intensive infrastructure for decades and slow progress toward climate goals, even as utilities seek to balance grid reliability with sustainability mandates.
Source: wfyi
