The owners of a retired Pennsylvania coal plant are converting it into the nation’s largest gas plant to power data centers, giving a boost to fossil fuels in one of the central energy-producing regions of the country.
Homer City Redevelopment (HCR) announced Wednesday that the Homer City Generating Station — previously the state’s largest coal plant — would be part of a $10 billion data center campus stretching 3,200 acres. Equipped with seven gas turbines from GE Vernova, the facility is expected to produce up to 4.5 gigawatts of electricity, about a tenth of the state’s overall usage.
“We are fully committed to maximizing the unprecedented level of economic opportunity this project represents not just for Indiana County, but for all of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region of the country,” said William Wexler, president and CEO of HCR.
The project, which is about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, underscores the push from states and large technology companies to find adequate power to drive the artificial intelligence boom. Whether they turn to gas, renewables or nuclear in the next 10 years could have significant implications for the nation’s emissions trajectory.
