Google, Amazon and the owner of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station are among companies interested in taking advantage of a new state law that makes it easier to build non-grid power plants tied to AI data centers in New Hampshire.

Some of the companies are even eyeing construction of so-called “small modular nuclear reactors” (SMRs) on or near sites where future energy-hungry data centers might be located, according to officials with knowledge of ongoing talks over new electric-generation plants in New Hampshire.

Official stress companies have made only preliminary inquiries about possibly building new power plants to support AI data centers and other large energy users, such as facilities operated by crypto-mining and defense-related firms.

The preliminary talks may well lead to nothing – or at least nothing in the immediate future, officials say.

But they show this summer’s passage of HB 672 – which allows construction of non-grid power plants without regulatory oversight by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission – has clearly piqued the interest of large AI operators and power-plant developers.

“There have been a number of discussions with companies,” said state Rep. Michael Vose, R-Epping, sponsor of HB 672, which was signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte in August.

Big Tech Firms Interested

Among others, Google, a major player in the AI world, and NextEra Energy, owner of the Seabrook nuclear station, recently expressed interest in possibly taking advantage of New Hampshire’s new power-plant law, Vose said.

In particular, NextEra has said it has room at its Seabrook site to host another small power plant, possibly a SMR facility, Vose said.

At least one Massachusetts data center developer has expressed interest in possibly partnering with NextEra on a joint project, he added.

Meanwhile, Amazon, another major player in the AI field, has also discussed data center and power plant possibilities in the state, following recent passage of HB 672, said another source who requested anonymity.

Several Massachusetts research universities have also expressed interest in possibly building data centers in the state, the source said.

Spokespeople for Google, NextEra and Amazon could not be reached for comment.

Fierce Competition Among States

All the behind-the-scenes talks in New Hampshire come during an unprecedented nationwide boom in AI-driven electricity demand – and the need to generate enough energy to power thousands of servers, storage systems and networking equipment contained in a typical data center.

Many states are currently competing to lure data center developers and operators as a way to generate new jobs, boost local property tax revenues, and tap into the growing AI industry in general.

Yet critics counter that data centers, particularly those used by AI companies, often require huge amounts of electricity to operate – and as a result can lead to major spikes in residential and commercial utility rates.

Critics also warn of data centers’ heavy use of local water supplies to help cool down data centers.

But Vose, who chairs the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee, said the new state law deliberately allows construction of only non-grid power plants, or electric-generation stations that operate independently of the normal utility grid system.

“They’ll put no burden whatsoever on current utility prices,” Vose said of data centers powered by non-grid sources.

As for the heavy use of water at some data centers, new technologies exist that can dramatically reduce the need for water to cool facilities, Vose said.

New Nukes in NH?

What type of electric plants might be built under the new “bring your own power” law, as HB 672 has been called?

Vose said talks so far seem to be focusing on relatively small plants generating around 300 megawatts of power. By comparison, the current Seabrook Nuclear Power Station generates about 1,250 megawatts of power, he noted.

Meanwhile, most newly constructed power plants today, both big and small, rely on natural gas or clean energy sources to generate electricity.

But Vose said some of the talks he’s been privy to have involved discussions of new small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, generating in the vicinity of 300 megawatts of power.

One California company, Valar Atomics, has told officials it’s interested in partnering with a data-center operator to build a SMR facility in New Hampshire, Vose said.

A spokesman for Valar Atomics could not be reached for comment.

Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, a member of the state Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, expressed doubt that a SMR can be built anytime soon in New Hampshire due to technology constraints.

“I’m open to the idea of [SMRs],” said Watters, who voted for HB 672 this past session. “But it looks to me like small modular reactors are technologically seven to 10 years out.”

Like Vose, Watters said he’s talked with some firms interested in building new data centers and accompanying non-grid power stations in the state, but he didn’t mention any names.

State Won’t Get Biggest Data Centers

Craig McGahey, managing partner at San Francisco-based Cloud Centers, a data-center development and investment company, said he’s not surprised some firms are talking about potential SMR facilities in New Hampshire and elsewhere.

In an interview with The Registry Review, McGahey, who recently spoke at an energy summit in New Hampshire, noted that the Trump administration has been pushing hard for construction of nuclear power plants to help boost the nation’s emerging AI industry.

But McGahey agreed with Watters that SMRs are probably not technologically ready for full deployment today. “I think they’re a viable option down the road,” he said.

As for New Hampshire landing new data centers, McGahey said he doubts whether any of the “big 5 high-scalers” in AI – Google, Amazon, Meta, Oracle and Apple – would want to build large data centers in New Hampshire.

Large data centers can easily require 1,000 or more megawatts of power to operate, costing billions of dollars to build in the process.

But New Hampshire, with its new law, might be attractive to AI “high-scalers” and others who want to build medium-sized data centers requiring 200 to 400 megawatts of power, McGahey said.

Even Medium Data Centers Cost $1B

Medium-size data centers still cost about $1 billion each to build, McGahey said, which would make them huge private-sector construction projects by New Hampshire standards.

Small data centers require anywhere from 20 to 50 megawatts of power, costing from $200 million to $300 million to build, said McGahey.

Currently, New Hampshire is home to 10 mostly smaller data centers, half of them located in the Manchester area, according to state data.

Jim Monahan, president of the DuPont Group, a consulting and lobbying firm in Concord, said he’s encouraged by the interest he’s heard from firms interested in possibly building new data centers and power plants in the state.

“There’s a little bit of a gold rush going on,” he said of interest in AI data centers in general across the country.

But Monahan, whose firm represents the New England Power Generators Association, cautioned that there are still things the state must do to make New Hampshire an attractive site for data centers.

He noted that non-grid power plants supporting data centers still need to have backup power capabilities in case of emergencies – and it’s not clear right now where they might get that backup power.

“I think there are challenges ahead,” he said.