# National Grid Bets $1.75 Billion on US AI Power Boom With Joulent Investment

*2026-07-02 02:02 UTC · Business · 1 min read*

> National Grid Ventures is investing $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in U.S. energy platform Joulent to fund gas-fired power plants for AI data centers, starting with a 2.67-GW Texas facility serving Microsoft.

Britain's National Grid will invest $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in Joulent, a U.S. energy platform building power infrastructure for data centers, as it moves to capture surging AI-driven electricity demand. The deal, announced through National Grid Ventures, targets the fast-growing "large load" market of data centers and AI compute facilities across the United States.

The investment will fund Joulent's first project, Kilby: a 2.67-gigawatt gas-fired power facility in West Texas developed in a 50/50 partnership with Chevron. Under a 20-year power purchase agreement, Kilby will supply a Microsoft-operated data center campus, with first power targeted for 2028. National Grid CEO Zoe Yujnovich called the deal "disciplined, partner-led exposure to critical infrastructure for the AI-driven large load economy."

Electricity demand from data centers powering generative AI rose 17% in 2025, far outpacing the 3% growth in overall global electricity demand. National Grid says the partnership will also reinforce its existing data-center connection program, under which it plans to connect more than 10 gigawatts of capacity across the UK and US over the next five years, as part of a wider five-year, roughly $90 billion capital investment program.

## Sources

- [datacenterknowledge.com](https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/energy-power-supply/national-grid-agrees-to-1-75b-investment-in-joulent-to-expand-ai-power-infrastructure)
- [prnewswire.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-grid-ventures-to-invest-1-75bn-to-accelerate-power-solutions-for-us-data-centers-and-ai-302815750.html)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/1928-national-grid-bets-1-75-billion-on-us-ai-power-boom-with-joulent-investment
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/2001-national-grid-vsazi-1-75-miliardy-dolaru-na-americky-ai-energeticky-boom