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Trump touts Pa. energy, AI investments

PITTSBURGH -- Appearing at what is being billed as the first-ever Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, President Donald J. Trump praised the commonwealth's energy sector and trumpeted a series of investments in energy and artificial intelligence that are set to be made across the state.

"It's a really triumphant day for the people of the commonwealth and of the United States of America," Trump told a gathering in Carnegie Mellon University's Wiegand Gymnasium. "The future is going to be designed and built right here in America."

Trump had top billing at the summit, which was hosted by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick. To coincide with the summit, it was announced that more than

$90 billion will be invested in several energy and AI-related areas, such as start-ups, expanding gas pipelines, developing data centers and building training facilities. The $90 billion includes money GE Verona is going to put toward expanding a power grid equipment manufacturing plant in Charleroi, which will create 250 new jobs.

"None of this would have happened without your unwavering commitment to American energy dominance," McCormick told Trump.

"These are truly the biggest investments in the world," Trump said.

Some members of Trump's administration were on hand for the summit, including Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Executives and investors in the energy sector were also in attendance.

Aside from McCormick, the highest-ranking elected official at the event was Gov. Josh Shapiro. He and McCormick both participated in a panel discussion at lunchtime on investing in Pennsylvania. Shapiro, a Democrat, noted that he and McCormick, a Republican and former hedge fund manager, have their disagreements, but that "we need to be at the crossroads of the energy and AI revolution."

The rise of artificial intelligence was a front-and-center issue at the summit, and proponents of the energy industry say that the country needs to fortify its electrical grid in order to meet the demands AI will put on it.

McCormick noted that Pennsylvania is the nation's second largest energy producer and is "uniquely positioned to deliver the abundant, affordable energy that growing AI and advanced manufacturing sectors demand."

He added, "We have the skilled workforce to build and operate this critical infrastructure, world-class universities driving innovation and strategic proximity to over half the country's population."

Jim Welty, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said in a statement that "winning the global AI race" is "a matter of national security, and with clean and abundant Pennsylvania-produced natural gas, we can also continue to protect and enhance our environment and create good-paying tech, building trades and energy jobs."

Trump's remarks were not entirely about energy or AI. He noted the attempt on his life that happened in Butler County a year ago on Sunday, took a victory lap for the budget bill Congress approved earlier this month and slammed the environmental and energy policies of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

"I ended Joe Biden's war on Pennsylvania's clean, beautiful coal," he said.

Security at the summit was tight. The campus of Carnegie Mellon University and the neighborhoods around it were eerily quiet, and some streets were blocked off. Employees of Carnegie Mellon were told to work remotely Tuesday, and both the nearby Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History were closed because of the event.

More than $90 billion in investments announced

Top executives in energy and AI, leading global investors, key representatives in labor and trade and top government officials joined Sen. Dave McCormick and President Donald Trump at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. At this first-of-its-kind summit, companies announced over $90 billion of investments in data centers, energy and power infrastructure and workforce and AI training projects. These commitments will create tens of thousands of construction jobs and thousands of permanent jobs, signaling Pennsylvania's readiness to power the AI and energy revolution, further strengthening America's resilience and independence.

Investments announced at Tuesday's Energy and Innovation Summit include:

– Anthropic committed $1 million over three years to support the 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 Carnegie Mellon University.

– Blackstone announced a $25 billion investment in data center and energy infrastructure development in Northeast Pennsylvania along with a new joint venture with PPL Corporation for power generation. This investment is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs along with 3,000 new permanent jobs.

– Brookfield announced a 20-year, $3 billion deal with Google to repower two hydropower facilities and generate 670 megawatts of power. Brookfield estimates 300 new jobs to be protected.

– Capital Power announced $3 billion over 10 years to upgrade and expand a gas facility in Shamokin Dam, including $2 billion of Pennsylvania gas purchases. More than 30 full-time jobs are expected to be created as a result of this investment.

– 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. As a result, Pennsylvania should receive an additional 340 megawatts of power capacity, contingent upon customer commitments.

– CoreWeave announced a $6 billion investment to develop an up to 300-megawatt data center in Lancaster. This new data center is expected to create 600 new construction jobs and 175 full-time operational jobs.

– Energy Capital Partners announced a $5 billion plan to develop a data center at the York II Energy Center. This project is expected to create 2,500 new construction jobs. In addition, Energy Capital Partners plans to develop 51 community solar projects designed to power 24,000 homes.

– 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.

– Enbridge will invest $1 billion to expand their gas pipelines into Pennsylvania with projects to be announced over the next six to 18 months.

– Equinor announced an investment of $1.6 billion, generating 1,000 direct and indirect jobs per year, to boost natural gas production at Equinor's Pennsylvania facilities and explore opportunities to link gas to flexible power generation for data centers.

– First Energy will invest $15 billion to expand power distribution, strengthen grid infrastructure and operate the enhanced grid, supporting 56 of the 67 Pennsylvania counties. In partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, First Energy will also expand an apprenticeship program, creating opportunities for more than 40 new hires across dozens of Pennsylvania's counties.

– Frontier Group announced plans to invest $3.2 billion to transform the former Bruce Mansfield coal power plant into a natural gas power station in Shippingport. This project is expected to create 15,000 construction jobs and more than 300 permanent jobs.

– GE Vernova announced up to $100 million of investment in Pennsylvania facilities, including creating 250 new jobs by expanding a power grid equipment manufacturing plant in Charleroi.

– Google announced a new 20-year deal with Brookfield to repower two hydropower facilities, Safe Harbor Hydro Facility and Holtwood Hydro Facility, resulting in 670 megawatts of power generation to support the state. Google has also launched a new "AI Works for PA" initiative offering free training for one million Pennsylvania small businesses and Pittsburgh residents and awarded a grant to the electrical training ALLIANCE to train electrical workers and new apprentices using AI through an AI-integrated curriculum.

– Homer City Redevelopment announced an agreement in principle to purchase $15 billion of Pennsylvania natural gas to support over 4 gigawatts of power generation at the Homer City Redevelopment site. This project is expected to create 1,000 onsite jobs in addition to 10,000 new construction jobs.

– Meta announced $2.5 million as part of a partnership program with the Schwartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University to support startups in rural Pennsylvania communities in addition to community accelerator training for small businesses.

– PA Data Center Partners and Powerhouse Data Centers revealed plans to develop a $15 billion, 1.3 gigawatt, three-campus data center hub near Carlisle.

– PPL Corporation will invest $6.8 billion through 2028 to expand grid capacity and modernize transmission across multiple Pennsylvania counties to support the growing power demand of data centers. The projects are expected to create 3,400 new jobs in Pennsylvania. PPL also announced a joint venture with Blackstone to develop, own and operate combined-cycle gas generation capacity.

– TC Energy announced plans to invest $400 million to modernize its gas pipeline network in Pennsylvania.

– Westinghouse Electric Company is working to have 10 new, large nuclear power plant reactors under construction by 2030, generating what is currently estimated to be $6 billion in economic impact and 15,000 new jobs in southwest Pennsylvania.