The inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit held Tuesday at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), organized by Republican Sen. Dave McCormick, turned into a rousing success.
An array of CEOs and local, state, and federal policymakers – including President Donald Trump – unveiled a bold plan Tuesday involving $92 billion in private sector investments at the event, designed to transform a swath of southwestern Pennsylvania in and around Pittsburgh into one of the world’s largest AI and datacenter hubs.
President Trump, who delivered closing remarks, says it’s only the beginning. “The investments being announced this afternoon include more than $56 billion in new energy infrastructure and more than $36 billion dollars in new data center projects,” Trump said in the event’s closing remarks. “A lot more than that are going to be announced in the coming weeks.” (RELATED: Trump Announces Massive Investments To Steer America Closer To Energy, Tech Dominance)
This major infusion of private investment is just the start of a long-term plan to build an ecosystem where energy and AI tech feed each other, a model that could be repeated in other parts of the country. Projects like the Aliquippa data center, built on a former steel mill site, could generate millions in tax revenue and thousands of jobs. Gradiant’s plan to extract lithium from Marcellus Shale gas drilling wastewater by 2026 adds another layer of innovation.
AI isn’t just code – it’s an energy-hungry beast, one that requires massive computing power, and Pittsburgh’s energy abundance is its secret weapon. Sen. McCormick emphasized Pennsylvania’s role as the nation’s second-largest energy producer, with Marcellus Shale natural gas and nuclear power ready to fuel AI’s growth.
Companies like CoreWeave are investing $6 billion in state-of-the-art data centers, while Amazon’s $20 billion pledge for AI “innovation centers” across the state sets a new benchmark for private investment.
Potential for economic development is always a major driver to secure public support for any major industrial development plan, and this one is no exception. Blackstone’s $25 billion investment in Northeast Pennsylvania’s data centers and energy projects is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs annually and 3,000 permanent roles.
Constellation Energy will create 3,000 jobs per year as a result of a $2.4 billion investment to uprate the Limerick nuclear power plant. Frontier Groupannounced plans to invest $3.2 billion to transform the former Bruce Mansfield coal power plant into a natural gas power station in Shippingport, Pa. is expected to create 15,000 construction jobs and over 300 permanent jobs.
Local communities and education also stand to benefit from the project. Anthropic committed $1 million over three years to support CMU’s PicoCTF program that provides cybersecurity education to middle and high school students. In addition, they announced $1 million over three years to support energy research at CMU. Energy Innovation Center Infrastructure Academy plans to build a first-of-its-kind regional training facility for energy and AI infrastructure workers with the potential to impact more than 7,000 jobs across southwest Pennsylvania as part of the overall project.
In his own remarks at the event, Energy Secretary Chris Wright tied the development’s plans for heavy reliance on 24/7 power generation from natural gas and nuclear to the Trump administration’s efforts to rebalance the energy playing field after four years of federal policies designed to impede those energy resources. He also referred to America’s emerging leadership in the AI space as a “second Manhattan Project.”
“If we’re going to win the AI arms race, we need massively more energy, not standing in the way of our energy today. We have to add massively to our electrical generating capacity,” Wright told attendees. “AI is our second Manhattan Project. If we fumble the energy ball, we will not win the AI race, but we can and shall win the AI race.”
It is notable after the past four years of Biden-era government injections of billions of taxpayer funds into aspirational hydrogen hubs and other experimental technologies that the $92 billion in initial investments announced at Tuesday’s summit do not involve any federal subsidies. This isn’t about using federal subsidies to pick winners and losers in the energy space: It’s about unleashing the private sector to power the future with the right energy sources for the job.
AI is that future, gas and nuclear can power it, and the Pittsburgh region now stands to become one of its major winners.
David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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