Pennsylvania emerged as a central arena in America’s AI infrastructure race yesterday, as state officials and private-sector leaders unveiled a sweeping slate of data center and energy investments totaling up to $90 billion.
The announcements, made during the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, position the state as a new frontier for hyperscale development, and a strategic player in solving the nation’s twin challenges of AI compute and power availability.
The event brought together a high-powered mix of tech CEOs, energy executives, financiers, and policymakers, with appearances from President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Senate candidate Dave McCormick, and AWS CEO Matt Garman.
The message from both the public and private sectors was pretty straightforward: Pennsylvania has the location, workforce, and energy assets to scale AI infrastructure, and it’s ready to compete.
The Investment Breakdown
Among the headline announcements yesterday:
- Google revealed plans to invest $25 billion in data centers across the PJM Interconnection grid, with portions expected to land in Pennsylvania. The company is also committing to purchase 3 gigawatts of hydroelectric power from Brookfield’s Holtwood and Safe Harbor facilities, helping extend their operational lifespan and reinforcing the state’s baseload power profile.
- Blackstone confirmed a $25 billion strategic investment aimed at co-locating data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania. As the owner of QTS Data Centers, one of the industry’s leading hyperscale developers, Blackstone’s move underscores the capital market’s commitment to long-duration AI infrastructure builds.
- PowerHouse Data Centers, in partnership with PA Data Center Partners, will invest $15 billion to develop three hyperscale campuses in Central Pennsylvania. The flagship project, Pennsylvania Digital I (PAX), is designed as a dedicated AI hub with an initial capacity of 1.35 gigawatts, expandable to 1.8 GW.
- CoreWeave is investing up to $6 billion in a new campus in Lancaster County, with an initial deployment of 100 MW and the potential to scale to 300 MW. The project follows the company’s accelerated infrastructure expansion to support AI workloads in partnership with Nvidia and other ecosystem players.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) reaffirmed its previously announced $20 billion commitment in Pennsylvania, with CEO Matt Garman appearing at the summit to emphasize the company’s long-term regional plans and energy partnership strategy.
- GE Vernova highlighted its natural gas development in Homer City, PA, which will include adjacent data center infrastructure. First revealed in March, the project exemplifies the state’s emerging trend of dual-track energy and data development, where new generation assets are bundled with hyperscale facilities.
Why Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania offers a rare combination of competitive advantages for next-generation digital infrastructure: abundant in-state energy resources (including hydro and natural gas), proximity to Northeast population centers, a revitalizing industrial land base, and bipartisan support for infrastructure investment.
“The battle for AI innovation will be won by the states that can deliver compute, power, and people,” said Senator Dave McCormick at the summit. “Pennsylvania is at the center of it.”
That sentiment was echoed by corporate leaders and financiers present, including executives from Anthropic, BlackRock, Brookfield, Exxon, and Constellation Energy, many of whom are either already invested or evaluating new projects across the state.
Several speakers noted Pennsylvania’s skilled labor pool, emerging talent pipelines through workforce development programs, and the state’s willingness to fast-track critical infrastructure permitting as key accelerators.
Public-Private Partnerships Drive Momentum
The Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit served as a proving ground for the next generation of public-private partnerships in AI and energy infrastructure. State and federal officials signaled strong support for economic incentives, interconnection reform, and long-term tax strategies designed to attract and retain massive capital investment.
The summit also highlighted the growing interconnectedness of hyperscale data centers and power infrastructure, as developers increasingly seek to co-locate or vertically integrate energy assets in order to control cost, reliability, and carbon profiles in the AI era.
Data Center Frontier continues to track major site announcements, energy procurement deals, and campus buildouts across Pennsylvania and the greater PJM region. If yesterday’s summit is any indication, the state’s role in the data center map can no longer be characterized as “emerging.” It’s fully arrived.
How Pennsylvania Is Powering the AI Infrastructure Boom: Incentives, Energy, and Talent Fuel the State’s Hyperscale Momentum
As Pennsylvania positions itself to attract tens of billions in data center and energy investment, the state is leveraging a mix of incentives, regulatory reform, and workforce development initiatives to support AI infrastructure at scale. Here are some of the key enablers behind the state’s recent surge:
Tax Incentives and Development Zones
Pennsylvania has long offered competitive tax frameworks for industrial development, but new programs are now more tightly aligned with data center economics:
- Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZs): These designated areas offer exemptions from most state and local taxes for up to 10 years, aimed at attracting capital-intensive infrastructure projects.
- Computer Data Center Equipment Incentives: Legislation modeled on other Tier I markets (e.g., Virginia) is under consideration, which could exempt data centers from sales and use taxes on equipment, software, and power.
- Customized Job Training (CJT) Funds: Companies committing to new facilities can access grant-backed workforce training support, often tied to partnership with technical colleges or trade unions.
Grid Access and Energy Innovation
As interconnection delays roil other major markets, Pennsylvania’s energy posture, grounded in the PJM Interconnection footprint, is a differentiator.
PJM is actively collaborating with hyperscale players, including Google and Brookfield’s Tapestry project, to accelerate large-scale interconnection timelines.
Legacy hydro and gas generation facilities, such as Safe Harbor, Holtwood, and Homer City, are being revitalized to support AI-scale energy demands.
The state has also launched a Clean Hydrogen Hub initiative in collaboration with DOE programs, which could serve as a long-term zero-carbon energy source for next-gen campuses.
Workforce and Reskilling Initiatives
Hyperscale growth is workforce-dependent, and Pennsylvania is aiming to build a durable tech-enabled labor pool via the following:
- Apprenticeship-to-Career Pipelines: Community colleges and vocational training programs are scaling efforts to deliver certified talent for power infrastructure, fiber trenching, high-voltage electricians, and data center operations.
- University Partnerships: Institutions like Carnegie Mellon, Penn State, and Lehigh University are deepening partnerships with AI firms and data center operators for research, capstone projects, and STEM training.
- Veteran and Displaced Worker Retraining: New public-private programs are focusing on transitioning workers from coal and heavy industry into digital infrastructure roles, including security, maintenance, and facilities operations.
Conclusion
Pennsylvania’s unique combination of incentives, energy readiness, and workforce investments is not by accident. The state has crafted and implemented a deliberate strategy to transform the itself into a keystone of AI infrastructure development. For hyperscale builders navigating power constraints and permitting roadblocks elsewhere, Pennsylvania may now be seen as one of the most compelling expansion markets on the East Coast.
