683-Mile Ruby Pipeline Eyed for Utah AI Data Center Project
A once-overlooked Western natural gas pipeline is drawing fresh attention as Utah officials and developers advance plans for a massive AI and energy infrastructure project.
(P&GJ) — The Ruby Pipeline, a 683-mile natural gas system crossing the western U.S., is drawing renewed attention as developers look to use the line to support a proposed AI-focused data center and energy campus in northern Utah, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Project supporters say the pipeline’s available capacity could help supply natural gas for on-site power generation tied to the large-scale development in Box Elder County.
The project, backed in part by investor Kevin O’Leary and Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, has sparked debate over energy use, environmental impacts and long-term infrastructure demands. State officials and developers have described the Ruby Pipeline as a critical component of the proposed facility, which could eventually require several gigawatts of electricity to support artificial intelligence computing operations.
Built during the shale gas expansion era, the Ruby Pipeline entered service in 2011 to move Rocky Mountain natural gas westward to markets in Nevada, Oregon and California. However, the system later struggled financially after long-term transportation agreements expired and market conditions shifted. Ruby Pipeline LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2022 under roughly $475 million in debt before Tallgrass Energy acquired the asset later that year, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Energy analysts say the Utah data center proposal could help increase utilization on the pipeline, which has operated below capacity in recent years. The system can transport up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Wyoming’s Opal Hub across the West. Developers behind the Utah project have argued the facility would rely on unused pipeline capacity and would not directly impact existing gas customers.
Still, some experts caution that adding a major new source of gas demand could tighten regional supply conditions and eventually affect energy costs across interconnected Western markets.