Coal-fired power plant, now retired, to become massive gas-powered campus for AI, data centers

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Coal-fired power plant, now retired, to become massive gas-powered campus for AI, data centers

By MARC LEVY
Updated 5:00 PM EDT, April 2, 2025

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owners of what was once Pennsylvania’s biggest coal-fired power plant said Wednesday that they will turn it into a $10 billion natural gas-powered data center campus designed to capitalize on the fast-growing energy demands of Big Tech companies to power artificial intelligence and cloud computing applications.

The former Homer City Generating Station, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh, will host seven gas-fired turbines to power data centers on site with up to 4.5 gigawatts of electricity, according to the owners, an investor group named Homer City Development.

That amount of electricity is enough to power about 3 million homes. It would be the nation’s largest gas-fired power plant and the nation’s third-largest power generation facility after the Grand Coulee hydroelectric dam in Washington and the new Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, according to federal data.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/technology-ai-natural-gas-electricity-pennsylvania-450534992fab8dd3527b64b92614259e