FirstEnergy's data center pipeline grew to 26 GW in the third quarter. The pipeline expanded 4.8% from the prior quarter, and the West Virginia portion climbed to 6 GW from 4.3 GW. Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison, the FirstEnergy utilities behind the Maidsville Energy Center, expect a final 
Featured: High-voltage electrical substation and transmission network powering industrial regional load.order from the West Virginia Public Service Commission this quarter, FirstEnergy said in its third-quarter results.
The two utilities would build and own Maidsville, a 1,200 MW combined-cycle gas plant plus three solar projects totaling 70 MW, next to FirstEnergy's existing Fort Martin station. Siemens Energy holds a turbine reservation agreement for the project, with delivery expected in 2030, and the utilities have issued a request for proposals for another 3 GW of combined-cycle turbines to serve data center load in the state, Utility Dive reported. FirstEnergy puts the project at roughly $2.7 billion and is seeking to recover costs through a Generation Projects Surcharge, the Dominion Post reported.
West Virginia's pipeline rose from 4.3 GW three months earlier, IDCNOVA reported. FirstEnergy has 7.9 GW of contracted large-load demand across its footprint, nearly double the level at the start of the year, and is negotiating about 4 GW more. The company says interest spans Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
"Maidsville is an important investment on its own, but we see it as the first of a broader set of opportunities in West Virginia," said Brian Tierney, FirstEnergy chairman, president and CEO. Tierney said the state "has the potential to become a major center for new electricity generation."
FirstEnergy is also weighing "bridge" generation that can be built quickly while transmission and larger plants are under development. Tierney said customers seeking 1 GW campuses want to start with a roughly 100 MW building, using reciprocating engines, fuel cells or batteries that could later move to other large-load projects. Data center demand is expected to raise FirstEnergy's transmission investment by at least 25%, or $4.75 billion, above its current $19 billion plan, and the company estimates about $250 million of transmission upgrades per gigawatt of load.
The project has drawn organized opposition. The Public Service Commission has received 662 letters against Maidsville, virtually all identical form letters, and opponents told regulators the utilities overestimated data center load growth and that surplus power would raise customer costs. The Ohio River Valley Institute filed a comment in case FE 26-0108-E-CN arguing that data center costs should not be shifted to existing customers, according to its filing. FirstEnergy estimated in June that the gas plant would cost $2.48 billion and the three solar sites $182 million, with an initial residential surcharge of $1.18 a month, or 0.9%.
FirstEnergy reported third-quarter net income of $557 million, or $0.96 per share, on $4.6 billion of revenue, up from $441 million a year earlier. Baxtel tracks 18 data center facilities in West Virginia, most of them small network sites, and records 720 MW planned for the second building at Nscale's Monarch campus on the Ohio River. Siemens Energy turbines are due for delivery in 2030, and Tierney said the remaining major contracts are on track to be signed shortly after the commission issues its order.
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