AKRON, Ohio — Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. says the amount of electricity it has contracted to supply to data centers has nearly doubled since the end of 2025, climbing to 7.9 gigawatts by the end of the third quarter of 2026, according to figures the utility shared in an Oct. 27 investor presentation reported by the Akron Beacon Journal. The jump underscores how quickly data center growth is reshaping power demand across the company’s six-state service territory, which includes Ohio.
The increase was steep even within a single quarter. Contracted demand rose from 6.4 gigawatts at the end of the second quarter to 7.9 gigawatts at the end of the third quarter, a gain of more than 23 percent in three months, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Total demand, counting both contracted and pipeline projects not yet under contract, reached 27 gigawatts, up from 24.8 gigawatts a quarter earlier.
More growth could follow. “We are in active negotiations with approximately 4 gigawatts of additional load,” FirstEnergy chairman, president and CEO Brian Tierney said on the company’s Oct. 28 third-quarter earnings call, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Tierney told investors, as reported by the Akron Beacon Journal, that large data centers known as hyperscalers should remain in the company’s pipeline for years, with developers talking about timelines well beyond 2030 or 2031.
Ohio is a major part of that picture. A review of FirstEnergy’s third-quarter filings by Data Center Feed found Ohio has the largest data center pipeline in the company’s territory, at 6,790 megawatts by 2036, plus 2,570 megawatts already contracted. The company’s Ohio regulatory calendar also includes a proposed data center tariff filed June 12, 2026, and a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio staff report on its proposed three-year Ohio rate plan due Nov. 30, 2026, according to Data Center Feed.
The surge came alongside a stronger-than-expected quarter. FirstEnergy reported third-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 98 cents per share, ahead of the 90-cent Zacks Consensus Estimate forecast and up from 83 cents a year earlier, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Zacks reported operating revenues rose 9.9 percent to $4.56 billion, with industrial electricity sales up 3.3 percent on manufacturing and data center strength.
“We delivered another strong quarter and remain on track to meet our objectives for the year,” Tierney said on the Oct. 28 earnings call, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. “Our performance reflects strong capital deployment, financial discipline, and an improving customer experience,” he told investors on the call, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. FirstEnergy shares closed Oct. 28 at $46.40, up 13 cents, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
For Northeast Ohio, the figures put an Akron-headquartered company at the center of a major economic question: how much new power infrastructure data centers will require, and how the costs are shared. Zacks reported that FirstEnergy reaffirmed its 2026 earnings guidance of $2.62 to $2.82 per share and maintained a $36 billion investment plan through 2030. In Ohio, state regulators are set to weigh the company’s rate plan and its proposed data center tariff in the months ahead.