With grid connections and new turbines taking years, some AI data centers are generating their own electricity using converted jet engines, the New York Times reported. The engines are pulled from retired aircraft and rebuilt to burn natural gas, and are not intended as permanent power plants. Their appeal is speed: Rystad Energy analyst Audun Martinsen said a jet-powered unit can have a data center running in 24 months, while hooking up 100 megawatts to the grid in Northern Virginia takes about seven years, according to the International Energy Agency. A Mitsubishi Power executive told Bloomberg that most power capacity is expected to come online by 2031.

The delays are already costing operators business. Microsoft pulled out as anchor customer for Nscale’s data center in Loughton, England, after the local utility said it couldn’t deliver enough power until the early-to-mid 2030s. xAI has installed eight converted jet-engine turbines in Mississippi to help power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, according to the Times, citing state permits and satellite imagery. The units come from ProEnergy, which rebuilds a GE engine commonly used on Boeing jets. In 2025, OpenAI followed with gas turbines at its first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas. Crusoe, which is building that campus, ordered 13 of ProEnergy‘s converted units in April; in September it walked away from a $1.25 billion deal to buy 29 natural gas turbines from Boom Supersonic, telling TechCrunch it still plans to use turbines.

The Trump administration is adding to the pressure by encouraging data centers to generate their own electricity. Converted jet engines have trade-offs: they are less efficient and pollute more than turbines designed for conventional gas plants, and more units are needed for the same power. That may make them a short-term play, with experts saying efficiency and environmental concerns could grow in importance in a year or two.