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What had been Pennsylvania's largest coal-fired power plant is now set to become a natural gas-powered data center campus
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supplying energy for artificial intelligence and cloud computing applications. This $10 billion project at the former Homer City Power Plant has been called the biggest capital investment in state history
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and investors say even more funding could be required. According to developers, the site will host seven gas-fired turbines capable of producing up to 4.5 gigawatts of electricity
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enough to power approximately 3 million homes. That sizable amount of energy will be needed for data center operations
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which can require the same amount of electricity as a small city. Once completed, this facility will become the largest gas-fired power plant in the United States
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and the nation's third-largest power generation facility. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, with electricity generation expected to start by 2027
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This comes after the demolition of the retired coal plants, cooling towers
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and smokestacks last month. The Homer City power plant was shut down in 2023 after 54 years in
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operation as it faced increasing competition from lower cost natural gas, reduced demand due to
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milder winters, rising coal costs, and stricter environmental regulations. However, the location
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now offers existing infrastructure advantages for the incoming natural gas-powered data center campus
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including transmission lines connected to the Mid-Atlantic and New York power grids
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substations and water access. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Jack Elmer
