Key points
- SemiAnalysis says two data center sites pivoted to Bloom fuel cells
- Gas permitting delays are the stated reason
- One is the Vineland site we reported in August
- SemiAnalysis tracks 75 GW of binding equipment orders
Permitting delays pushed two high-profile data center projects away from conventional gas generators and toward Bloom Energy (BE) fuel cells, the research firm SemiAnalysis reported on Thursday. It named Oracle's (ORCL) Project Jupiter and Nebius' (NBIS) New Jersey site.
"Permitting delays have caused high-profile sites, like Oracle Project Jupiter and Nebius New Jersey, to perform emergency pivots to less polluting alternatives (Bloom fuel cells)," the report said.
Why fuel cells can be easier to permit
Air regulators assess a project's potential emissions when determining which permits and reviews it requires. The applicable limits depend on the pollutant, location, facility type and permitting program. The Title V default major source threshold is 100 tons a year, with lower limits for hazardous air pollutants and in areas that already fail air quality standards, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Gas-fired generators produce nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide through combustion. Bloom's solid oxide fuel cells convert natural gas into electricity electrochemically, producing far less nitrogen oxide. That can keep a project below certain permitting thresholds and shorten its path to operation, although fuel cells still produce emissions and may still require permits.
We have been on one of those sites since August
Nebius New Jersey is the Vineland site. DataOne is building a 300-megawatt AI data center there that serves Microsoft (MSFT) under Nebius' agreement, and we reported on August 28 that Floodlight and The Guardian flew a thermal drone over it and found at least 45 of 62 gas generators running. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection had issued no permits and had none under review.
Two separate permitting questions sit on that site and they should not be merged. One is the 62 gas generators already running. The other is the state pre-construction permit and certificate of operation that Earthjustice attorney Casandia Bellevue says DataOne still needs for its 300-megawatt Bloom array. SemiAnalysis calling the fuel cell order an emergency pivot is that firm's characterization of why the array is there, not a finding by any regulator.
How big the behind-the-meter market has become
Behind-the-meter means a data center generates its own electricity on site rather than drawing it from the public grid. SemiAnalysis says its energy model tracks 75 gigawatts of firm, binding equipment orders for behind-the-meter AI compute, about 20 gigawatts of it booked in the second quarter of 2026 alone. The firm says those are orders received by manufacturers at the project level, not the announced projects that never get built which other analysts count.
The figures come from SemiAnalysis's proprietary subscription models and cannot be independently verified.
Bloom's largest disclosed data center order is 900 megawatts for the first phase of the Cheyenne AI Factory in Wyoming, a 1.8-gigawatt campus the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council approved on January 8. BFC Power, a Tallgrass subsidiary, is developing it, and American Electric Power (AEP) holds a 20-year agreement for the output. Reports differ on which company will take the compute, so we are not naming one.
What the stock did
Bloom traded at $263.63 at 12:56 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, down 2.1% from Wednesday's close of $269.28. Nebius was down 5.2% and Oracle 3.0% at the same time. Bloom joins the S&P 500 on September 21.
The stock has already been repriced this year. Bloom's market value is about $77.2 billion on revenue of $3.11 billion over the past twelve months, or 295 times trailing earnings. The shares have traded between $60.00 and $351.28 over the past 52 weeks, so Thursday's price sits about 25% below the high.
