American Electric Power plans to invest about $4 billion to build a 702-megawatt fuel cell generation facility near Cheyenne, Wyoming, under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Alphabet's Google.
The facility will run on Bloom Energy fuel cell technology, which generates electricity without burning natural gas, and AEP plans to add carbon capture to deliver near-zero-emissions power.
Google will draw power from Cheyenne Fuel Cell, LLC, which AEP owns and controls at roughly 92%, with funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners holding the remaining stake of nearly 8%.
Construction is due to begin this year, with full operations expected by the end of 2028.
"As power demand continues to grow, AEP is bringing together new technologies and strong partnerships to deliver reliable, innovative energy solutions quickly and at scale," said Bill Fehrman, AEP's chairman, president and chief executive.
The deal extends AEP's relationship with Bloom Energy: in January, AEP exercised an option to buy a portion of up to 900 megawatts of additional Bloom fuel cells in a deal worth roughly $2.65 billion.
It also adds to Google's run of power deals for data centers and AI systems, following a separate agreement with Black Hills effective 30 September for its proposed Cheyenne-area data center, a 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy covering 890 megawatts backed by more than $4.3 billion, and a 396-megawatt enhanced geothermal agreement with Fervo Energy signed in September for a potential Utah data center.
