Powering AI: Google, Blackstone, and Constellation Pour Billions Into Pennsylvania’s Grid

The largest power purchase agreement for hydropower ever reached was announced last week as part of Google’s $28 billion commitment to AI infrastructure. The centerpiece is a $3 billion, 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Brookfield Asset Management, securing carbon-free electricity from two of Brookfield’s hydroelectric plants in Pennsylvania. This energy will support Google’s expanding infrastructure footprint in the PJM Interconnection region.

PJM is the largest regional transmission organization in the United States, managing the electric grid and wholesale electricity market for more than 65 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia. The region includes some of the nation’s most data center-dense corridors, making grid reliability and energy availability critical to future AI development.

According to Brookfield, the agreement is part of a broader Hydro Framework Agreement (HFA), a first-of-its-kind structure that aims to deliver 3 gigawatts of carbon-free hydropower across the U.S. The initiative will begin with 670 megawatts sourced from the two Pennsylvania plants. The $3 billion investment will fund modernization, overhauls, and relicensing of the plants, extending their operational life and enabling increased output. Brookfield’s long-term goal is to expand the capacity of the two plants to deliver no less than 3 GW of hydropower.

According to Connor Teskey, President of Brookfield Asset Management:

PJM has frequently appeared in data center industry headlines due to ongoing concerns about its ability to deliver sufficient power to both existing facilities and planned infrastructure projects. Google's $3 billion hydropower agreement, and its broader plan to invest $25 billion in AI infrastructure across the region over the next two years, represents a significant step toward easing those concerns and reinforcing grid capacity for future development.

Google's Head of Data Center Energy, Amanda Peterson Corio, described the partnership:

The announcement was made on July 15 at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The event was attended by senior government officials, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and President Donald Trump.

Expanding upon Corio’s remarks, Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s Chief Investment Officer, said in a statement:

Blackstone Makes Its Own $25 Billion Investment In PA

Meanwhile, Blackstone is leading a $25 billion investment initiative in Pennsylvania focused on infrastructure and energy development to support digital and AI growth. The plan combines data center expansion, new natural gas generation capacity, and streamlined permitting processes. Spanning a projected 10-year construction period, the initiative is expected to unlock as much as $60 billion in additional regional development.

Nadeem Meghji, Blackstone’s Global Co-Head of Real Estate, pointed out how these plans align with Blackstone’s ongoing efforts, saying:

Data center development under the Blackstone initiative will be led by QTS, one of the world’s largest independent data center operators and a Blackstone-backed company. QTS has already secured multiple build sites across northeastern Pennsylvania and plans to issue a request for information (RFI) to identify additional expansion opportunities throughout the state.

To support the power demands of these facilities, Blackstone has partnered with Allentown-based utility PPL to invest in new natural gas generation capacity tailored to AI and industrial workloads. Pennsylvania, which supplies approximately 20% of the nation’s natural gas, offers a reliable, low-cost electricity supply, making it a strategic asset for digital infrastructure growth.

According to Sean Klimczak, Blackstone’s Global Head of Infrastructure:

To help ensure community support for development, Blackstone and QTS plan to engage in local initiatives and volunteer efforts aligned with regional priorities. At the same time, they aim to accelerate project timelines by leveraging Pennsylvania’s “Fast Track” permitting system.

Constellation Expands Nuclear and Clean Energy Investment

Also at the summit, Constellation Energy announced a series of clean energy projects totaling billions of dollars in new investment across Pennsylvania. The centerpiece is the revival of the former Three Mile Island facility, now rebranded as the Crane Clean Energy Center. Thanks to coordinated efforts by state and local officials alongside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the project timeline has been accelerated, with the reactor now expected to return to service in 2027, roughly a year ahead of schedule. Once operational, the plant is expected to add approximately 835 MW of clean, reliable energy to the regional grid. Microsoft has already committed as a customer.

Constellation is also pursuing expansion at its Limerick Clean Energy Center, where it is seeking customer commitments to support an additional 340 MW of capacity. In parallel, the company is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating license of its Peach Bottom facility, with the goal of extending operations through 2054.

Joe Dominguez, President and CEO of Constellation, said:

CoreWeave Stakes Out AI-Driven Demand in Pennsylvania

Last but not least, also at the summit, CoreWeave announced plans to invest over $6 billion in a new purpose-built AI data center campus in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The facility will launch with an initial capacity of 100 MW and is designed to scale to 300 MW, placing it among the largest AI-specific data centers in the region. As with other CoreWeave projects, the company will operate as a tenant, with the site being developed by Chirisa Technology Parks in collaboration with Machine Investment Group.

With this level of scale, CoreWeave’s project underscores the urgent need for abundant, scalable power to support AI infrastructure in Pennsylvania. Its location in the PJM region aligns with the broader wave of energy investments, including hydropower, nuclear, and new natural gas generation, announced at the summit.

About the project, Michael Intrator, Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of CoreWeave, said:

Laying the Foundation for a Grid-Ready AI Future

As hyperscale AI workloads surge and the U.S. enters a new era of compute intensity, the announcements at the Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit send a clear market signal: energy is the cornerstone of AI infrastructure growth.

With Google, Blackstone, Constellation, and CoreWeave committing billions, Pennsylvania is emerging as a model for aligning digital infrastructure expansion with power sector transformation. From reviving legacy nuclear plants to securing long-term hydropower agreements and developing new natural gas generation, the state’s energy mix is evolving to deliver capacity, flexibility, reliability, and carbon-conscious scale.

All of this activity unfolds within the PJM Interconnection, where grid interconnection queues and transmission constraints have challenged data center developers. These new investments, structured around long-term commitments and public-private partnerships, demonstrate that AI infrastructure growth depends on power that is real, predictable, and future-ready.

With QTS securing sites, CoreWeave scaling up to 300 MW, and Microsoft committing to clean nuclear baseload, these projects are concrete examples of the evolving AI infrastructure landscape.

For data center operators, energy investors, and policymakers, Pennsylvania’s strategy offers a glimpse of the future of AI-powered regions. As AI’s infrastructure demands grow, strategic grid investments will increasingly define competitive advantage.

Keep pace with the fast-moving world of data centers and cloud computing by connecting with Data Center Frontier on LinkedIn, following us on X/Twitter and Facebook, as well as on BlueSky, and signing up for our weekly newsletters using the form below.