More than $92 billion in private-sector investment was announced Tuesday at U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, positioning Pennsylvania as a national hub for AI and energy infrastructure.

The event brought together the world’s top CEOs and government leaders, including President Donald Trump, Gov. Josh Shapiro, and executives from companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and others, to promote the state as a leading destination for AI infrastructure, data center development, and advanced energy generation.

 

Announcements included more than $92 billion in data center and energy projects, some of which are already underway. Investments and projects announced at the summit include:

• Anthropic: $2 million over three years for cybersecurity education and energy research at Carnegie Mellon.
• Blackstone: $25 billion for data center and energy infrastructure in Northeast PA, with 9,000 new jobs expected.
• Brookfield: $3 billion, 20-year hydropower deal with Google to repower two facilities, supporting 300 jobs.
• Capital Power: $3 billion to upgrade a gas facility in Shamokin Dam, including $2 billion in gas purchases.
• Constellation Energy: $2.4 billion to uprate the Limerick nuclear plant, adding 340 MW and 3,000 jobs annually.
• CoreWeave: $6 billion to build a 300 MW data center in Lancaster, creating 775 jobs.
• Energy Capital Partners: $5 billion for a new data center and 51 community solar projects, totaling 2,500 jobs.
• Energy Innovation Center: New training facility for energy and AI infrastructure jobs, aiming to support 7,000 roles.
• Enbridge: $1 billion to expand gas pipeline capacity across Pennsylvania.
• Equinor: $1.6 billion to increase natural gas production and explore power generation, with 1,000 jobs per year.
• First Energy: $15 billion to modernize grid infrastructure in 56 counties and expand electrical apprenticeships.
• Frontier Group: $3.2 billion to convert a coal plant in Shippingport into a natural gas facility, creating 15,300 jobs.
• GE Vernova: Up to $100 million to expand a grid equipment plant in Charleroi, creating 250 jobs.
• Google: Partnership with Brookfield for 670 MW of hydropower; statewide AI training for 1 million people.
• Homer City Redevelopment: $15 billion gas purchase agreement to support over 4 GW of generation and 11,000 jobs.
• Meta: $2.5 million for rural startup support and small business accelerator training through CMU.
• PA Data Center Partners / Powerhouse: $15 billion to build a 1.3 GW, three-campus data center near Carlisle.
• PPL Corporation: $6.8 billion through 2028 for grid upgrades and 3,400 new jobs; new joint venture with Blackstone.
• TC Energy: $400 million to modernize natural gas pipelines across the state.
• Westinghouse: Targeting 10 new nuclear reactors by 2030, with $6 billion in impact and 15,000 jobs in Southwest PA.

 

 

Speakers at the summit emphasized the importance of leveraging Pennsylvania’s natural gas reserves, strong grid infrastructure, and skilled labor force to support the growing energy demand required by artificial intelligence. Several executives emphasized the state’s “unique advantage” of being able to co-locate data centers near power sources, streamlining both logistics and cost.

“This is a triumphant day for the people of the commonwealth and the United States of America,” said President Trump, who headlined a CEO Roundtable at the event. He said the billions of dollars in investment would ensure the “future is designed, built, and made right here in Pennsylvania and right here in Pittsburgh.”

“We have a tsunami of opportunity for Pennsylvania,” said Sen. McCormick during a joint panel with Gov. Shapiro and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman. McCormick, a Republican, and Shapiro, a Democrat, repeatedly emphasized their shared goals despite political differences.

“The governor and I are [from] different parties, we have plenty of disagreements, but on this we agree,” said McCormick. “To have a leadership position, we need to show a unified front. That’s the only way to win.” Shapiro agreed, calling Pennsylvania “on the rise” and pointing to efforts to find common ground on energy, economic development, education, and public safety.

National security concerns were also a major topic of discussion. Several speakers, including McCormick, Shapiro, and various Trump administration officials, framed the AI and energy buildout as essential to competing with China.

“If the United States does not lead this revolution on our own terms, we will hand control of our infrastructure, our data, our leadership, and our way of life to the Chinese Communist Party,” said McCormick. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said China is opening a “new coal plant a week and trying to get us to close a coal plant a week.”

Lutnick and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called for immediate action to accelerate energy production across all sources — including gas, nuclear, and hydro, among others — while minimizing regulatory barriers.

“AI is about electricity,” said Burgum. “Where do you think those plants are going? They’re going to go where there is low-priced electricity … where there is an environment that says we want to get things done and built.”

Business leaders also called for permitting and legal reforms to speed up major projects. They warned delays could jeopardize the U.S.’s ability to meet energy demands and maintain its AI advantage.

The PA Chamber was proud to attend the summit and looks forward to continuing this momentum by aligning business, government and academic leaders around shared energy priorities.

For a full list of investments announced at the summit, please click here.