Startup Firma Power Aims to Link Renewables to AI Data Centers

AI data centers are consuming far more electricity than earlier facilities, and startup Firma Power wants to supply them with bundled clean power instead of waiting years for gas plants. Digital Trends covered the company on Oct. 16, 2026; details below also draw on a Business Bearings summary of that reporting.

A “large” data center once drew around 50 megawatts. AI sites now demand 500 megawatts to 1 gigawatt—roughly what San Francisco consumes—according to the coverage. The U.S. is on track to add a record about 86 gigawatts of new wind, solar and battery capacity this year, yet operators often still pursue gas because interconnection and contracting are slow.

Firma aggregates multiple renewable and storage projects into one contract data centers can sign quickly. President Scott Burger has said the model can deliver executable load-enabling strategies in days, versus years for utility planning or project-by-project deals. Energy researchers and developers Jesse Jenkins (CTO), Scott Burger (president) and Brent Alderfer (CEO) founded the company. It raised about $1.4 million in a February 2026 seed round and is working on roughly a dozen projects with hyperscalers, AI cloud companies and data-center developers.

Firma’s modeling, cited in the coverage, says PJM, SPP and MISO alone could add about 200 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030 while meeting reliability rules—more than enough, the founders argue, if buyers exist. Many queued projects stall without a long-term offtaker.

The company does not claim to replace all gas or grid power. It positions aggregation and contracting as one way to move stalled clean capacity toward AI loads aiming for 2028–2029 delivery on early contracts. No customer names or specific completion dates were disclosed in the reporting.