AEP Puts $4 Billion Into a 702 MW Fuel Cell Plant for Google, But Has Not Said Its Offtake Conditions Are Met

American Electric Power (AEP) plans to invest about $4 billion in a 702 MW fuel cell plant near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Google will buy the output under a 20-year power purchase agreement, AEP said on October 14, 2026. Bloom Energy supplies the fuel cells. AEP plans to start construction in 2026 and expects full operation by the end of 2028.

Google buys the power from Cheyenne Fuel Cell, LLC. AEP owns and controls about 92% of that company. Funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners own nearly 8%. One day earlier, Mainspring Energy said AEP agreed to buy up to 1.6 GW of its linear generators through 2034. The first tranche is 190 MW, for delivery starting in 2027.

What AEP Is Building

The Bloom fuel cells come under a previously announced agreement for up to 1 GW, Data Center Dynamics reports. AEP says the technology makes electricity without combustion of natural gas. The project includes plans to integrate carbon capture technology. The release gives no capture rate and names no gas supplier.

The Wyoming plant is about seven times the size of AEP’s previous fuel cell deployment, POWER reports. In 2025, AEP’s Ohio utility signed contracts for about 98 MW of fuel cell service. That service supplies two Central Ohio data centers that Amazon Web Services and Cologix operate.

Google is developing a 2.7 GW data center near Cheyenne, according to Data Center Dynamics. AEP says the project follows agreements between Google and Black Hills Corp., effective September 30. Black Hills plans a 2.7 GW resource portfolio, including reserves. It has up to 590 MW of grid-connected service and about 2.1 GW of third-party contracted resources in a private microgrid. Neither AEP nor Black Hills has confirmed whether the 702 MW Bloom plant is part of that 2.1 GW, POWER reports.

The Mainspring Order

Mainspring’s linear generators come in standard 2.5 MW configurations, Utility Dive reports. They run on fuels such as natural gas, biogas and hydrogen. The agreement could be worth up to $4 billion, a figure separate from the Wyoming plant. Mainspring chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger told Bloomberg Tech that AEP will be able to buy about 200 MW a year. Mainspring calls the deal its largest purchase order to date.

Why It Matters

POWER counts 892 MW of planned generation and purchased equipment in the two announcements. That is less than 3% of the roughly 33,000 MW of owned and contracted generating capacity that AEP reports. In January, an AEP subsidiary agreed to buy solid oxide fuel cells for about $2.65 billion for a Cheyenne plant. It also signed a 20-year agreement with an unnamed customer for all of the output. The second-quarter 10-Q says the arrangement “remains subject to specified conditions,” with a December 2026 milestone. The October release names Google. It does not say whether those conditions are met.

The schedule also depends on a tax credit. AEP chief financial officer Trevor Mihalik said on the July 30 earnings call that the fuel cells “need to be installed and ready to go by the end of 2028 to qualify for the investment tax credit.” AEP will report third-quarter results and its 2027 to 2031 capital plan on October 28.

Sources

• AEP, AEP Advances Innovative Energy Solution for Google with 702MW of Bloom Fuel Cells (October 14, 2026)
• POWER Magazine, AEP Plans $4 Billion Fuel Cell Power Plant for Google, Signs Up to 1.6 GW Mainspring Generator Deal (October 15, 2026)
• Utility Dive, AEP in deal to buy up to 1.6 GW of Mainspring linear generators (October 15, 2026)
• Data Center Dynamics, Google signs 20-year PPA with AEP for 702MW Wyoming fuel cell project (October 14, 2026)