Homer City Generating Station burned coal from 1969 until 1 July 2023, and its three 1,200-foot chimneys, among the tallest structures in the United States, were dropped in 2025. What replaces it is a bet that the most valuable thing about a dead coal plant is not the land but the wiring. The Homer City Energy Campus reuses the site’s existing transmission interconnection, water and rail infrastructure to stand up as much as 4.5 gigawatts of behind-the-meter gas generation feeding a hyperscale data center campus. Kiewit Power Constructors holds the EPC contract. Initial capital investment is projected past $10 billion, which the developers describe as the largest in Pennsylvania history.
Project Scope
Brownfield redevelopment of 3,200-plus acres, 50 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Up to 4.5 GW of on-site natural gas generation, behind the meter, serving data center load.
Seven GE Vernova 7HA.02 hydrogen-capable combustion turbines, first deliveries from 2026.
Reuse of the retired coal plant’s transmission interconnection and site infrastructure.
Roughly five-year construction programme, with first power targeted in 2027.
More than 10,000 direct construction jobs at peak and about 1,000 permanent positions at full operation.
Why It Matters
Interconnection queues are now the binding constraint on American power construction, and a retired coal plant comes with a connection that is already built, already energised and already studied. That is the entire investment thesis here, and it is being repeated at retired coal sites across PJM. The construction consequence is that brownfield remediation and demolition work moved from a cost centre to the front end of a development pipeline.
The emissions claim deserves a flag. Developers state 60 to 65% lower greenhouse gas emissions per megawatt-hour against the coal units the site replaces, which is a company figure, not an independently verified one, and it measures intensity rather than total output. Burning gas at 4.5 GW on a site that had stopped burning anything is not a reduction in absolute terms. The capital number, the job counts and the turbine schedule are likewise developer-stated.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Homer City Redevelopment LLC |
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| Owner / Client | Homer City Redevelopment LLC |
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| General Contractor | Kiewit Power Constructors Co. |
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| Major Subcontractors | GE Vernova (Gas Turbines)
EQT Corporation (Natural Gas Supply) |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Delivery Method | Design-Build |
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| Funding Source | Private |
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