National Grid stakes £1.4bn on US AI-power platform Joulent

TL;DR:

• National Grid is paying £1.4bn ($1.75bn) for a 35% stake in Joulent, a US firm building power infrastructure for data centres.
• The money helps fund a 2.67GW gas plant in West Texas, built with Chevron, that will supply a Microsoft data-centre campus under a 20-year deal.
• The company expects returns above the 9–10% it targets on its regulated networks, and a final investment decision by the end of 2026.

Britain’s National Grid is putting £1.4bn ($1.75bn) into the electricity demand created by artificial intelligence, taking a 35% stake in US energy platform Joulent. The move is a direct bet that data centres running generative AI will keep needing far more power than the wider economy — demand from such sites rose 17% in 2025, against 3% growth in global electricity use overall.

A bet on compute-hungry power

Joulent’s first project, known as Kilby, is a 2.67-gigawatt gas-fired facility in West Texas developed in a 50/50 partnership with Chevron. It will feed a Microsoft-operated data-centre campus under a 20-year power purchase agreement, with turbines from GE Vernova already secured and power targeted for 2028. National Grid says the spending is on top of its existing five-year programme of at least £70bn through to 2031, funded from its balance sheet rather than new borrowing.

The pitch to investors is returns. J.P. Morgan analysts noted the venture should beat the 9–10% return on equity National Grid expects from its regulated networks, reflecting a slightly higher risk profile. Shares dipped 1.4% on the day.

For UK readers, the deal lands in a live argument about whether the grid can carry AI’s appetite for electricity. Westminster has already been debating whether AI is compatible with net zero, and communities such as a Fife village fighting a 600MW data centre are pushing back on the physical footprint. National Grid also says the partnership strengthens its own connection pipeline, where it expects to link more than 10 gigawatts across the UK and US over five years.

Looking forward

The final investment decision is due by the end of 2026, with Joulent expected to turn cash-flow positive in the early 2030s. The structure signals how utilities increasingly see AI power not as a cost to absorb but as a growth market to invest in — a shift that could reshape how Britain’s grid operators justify spending to regulators and shareholders alike.