NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 11:26 EST — Regular session
- Bloom Energy shares extended their gains Friday after surging a day earlier on news of a major fuel-cell order disclosed by American Electric Power.
- AEP said in its filing it has a purchase agreement worth about $2.65 billion, along with a 20-year offtake deal linked to a new power facility in Wyoming.
- Wyoming county approvals for a massive data-center campus and an adjacent power buildout have given new oxygen to the “on-site power” theme.
Bloom Energy Corp shares rose 3.6% to $126.23 in late morning trading after hitting an earlier high of $129.96. The session low was $120.62.
The move comes after American Electric Power disclosed that its unit will exercise a substantial portion of its option for Bloom’s solid oxide fuel cells — systems that generate electricity on-site from fuel such as natural gas, rather than by burning it in a turbine. AEP also said it has a 20-year agreement with an unnamed customer to take all the output from a fuel-cell generation facility expected to be located near Cheyenne, Wyoming; the deal depends on conditions it expects to meet by the second quarter of 2026. 1
In its Jan. 8 filing, AEP added more guardrails to the announcement, saying its unregulated subsidiary signed an “unconditional purchase agreement” on Jan. 4 and matched it with an offtake arrangement — a long-term contract to buy the power produced — with a “high investment grade” third-party customer. AEP said that if the conditions aren’t met, it would be financially compensated for capital and costs incurred. 2
Beyond the utility filing, county decisions in Wyoming are telling a similar tale: data centers chasing huge chunks of power without leaning on already pinched grids. Laramie County commissioners voted unanimously on Jan. 5 to approve Project Jade, an artificial-intelligence data center campus, and signed off on a neighboring 2.7-gigawatt natural gas generation buildout; planning documents said the project would also use Bloom’s fuel cells. Tallgrass project director Raymon Williams told the publication the site would run on a “bring your own power” model and be “very self-sufficient.” 3
Data center builder Crusoe and pipeline operator Tallgrass say the Wyoming project could grow substantially over time. The campus is designed to scale to 10 gigawatts, with the first buildings expected to be electrified in 2027, according to industry publication Data Center Dynamics. Tallgrass has put the energy infrastructure piece alone at a $7 billion investment, and total project costs could climb to $50 billion. 4
Wall Street is scrambling to keep up, too. Clear Street on Friday bumped its price target on Bloom to $68 from $58 and stuck with a Hold rating, arguing that data center exposure can justify a higher valuation multiple even as the “absolute valuation level” still gives its model pause. 5
Bloom’s move didn’t carry across the fuel-cell names Friday. American Electric Power shares rose 0.3%, but FuelCell Energy fell 0.6% and Plug Power slid 6.9%; Ballard Power Systems was little changed.
A lot can still go sideways. The offtake arrangement AEP laid out comes with conditions running into the second quarter of 2026, and big infrastructure builds can slide on permitting, financing, equipment lead times or just basic execution. For Bloom, investors are still left guessing on delivery timing and how much of the option really gets pulled forward.
Next up, traders will be looking for more detail on the size of the AEP order and its delivery schedule — and then Bloom’s next quarterly update, with Nasdaq’s earnings calendar pegging results around Feb. 26. 6
