MARA bets $1.5 billion on Ohio power plant to anchor flagship AI campus

MARA Holdings, a publicly traded energy and compute infrastructure firm, is spending $1.5 billion to buy a natural gas power plant in Ohio.

The deal, announced today, is one of the clearest signals yet that the boundary between crypto mining companies and energy companies is disappearing.

The target is Long Ridge Energy & Power, a subsidiary of FTAI Infrastructure that operates a 505-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbine plant in Hannibal, Ohio.

The transaction includes roughly $785 million in assumed debt, backstopped by a bridge loan from Barclays. MARA gets the power plant, over 1,600 acres of contiguous land, rail infrastructure, water access, fiber connectivity, and a fuel supply pipeline.

The economics

Long Ridge is expected to generate roughly $144 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA, operating at under $15 per megawatt-hour in all-in costs.

The acquisition will increase MARA’s owned and operated power capacity by approximately 65%, pushing the company’s total footprint to around 2.2 gigawatts across the PJM, ERCOT, SPP, and international markets.

MARA already has a 200-megawatt data center co-located at the Long Ridge site, and the company says it’s fielding interest from investment-grade AI and critical IT tenants.

Construction on an initial AI buildout is targeted to begin in the first half of 2027, with capacity expected to come online by mid-2028. Over time, MARA sees a path to expanding the site to as much as 600 gross megawatts through grid expansions and additional on-site generation.

AI set to drive up to 165% surge in data center power demand by 2030: Goldman Sachs Research

Goldman Sachs Research forecasts a sharp rise in data center electricity demand driven by AI, increasing up to 165% by 2030 and 50% by 2027 compared with 2023 levels.

On the demand side, hyperscale cloud providers and enterprises are rapidly developing large language models that require power-intensive infrastructure. On the supply side, huge capital is being deployed to build new, high-density data centers, including emerging AI-specific facilities.

This imbalance is expected to tighten capacity, with occupancy peaking above 95% by 2026 before moderating as new supply enters the market.

Global power demand is projected to grow from 55 GW today to 84 GW by 2027, with AI’s share rising from 14% to 27%.

Companies securing their own power through on-site generation or direct agreements gain a clear advantage amid tightening grid capacity and rising costs.

The long-term plan is to transform the site into a flagship AI campus by combining energy production, fuel supply, and compute infrastructure, with the goal of maximizing the economic value derived from each megawatt of controlled power, Thiel noted.

From mining to energy

Bitcoin miners have been gradually transforming into energy infrastructure companies, as mining profitability declines after each Bitcoin halving, while demand for electricity from AI and data centers continues to grow rapidly.

The emerging strategy is to treat electricity as a flexible asset. Instead of using electricity for only one thing, miners are using it for Bitcoin mining when profitable, leasing it out to AI/cloud providers when demand is high, or selling it back to the grid when needed. This creates more stable and durable cash flows than traditional “pure” mining.

After selling 15,133 Bitcoin for approximately $1.1 billion last month, MARA’s BTC stash now sits at 38,689. While the company still holds a large Bitcoin reserve, its focus is increasingly shifting toward owning and controlling energy infrastructure rather than just accumulating Bitcoin.