Upper Burrell data center to use natural gas for more than 2 gigawatts of power generation

A data center planned at the former Alcoa Research Center in Upper Burrell plans to produce much of its own electricity via natural gas wells on the property, a company spokeswoman confirmed Monday.

“Our goal is to not heavily pull from the grid, it’s to provide our own,” said Melissa Farney, spokeswoman for TECfusions. “And, if we have more than we need, it’s to give back.”

There are roughly six natural gas well pads on the 1,400-acre Upper Burrell site TECfusions plans to tap into, Farney said.

Using natural gas for electricity generation isn’t uncommon, but it is rare for a data center to generate its own power, she said.

Data centers are facilities that house computing equipment, such as servers, storage systems and networking devices, for companies and organizations. Things such as bank transactions, calls and text messages and internet searches are stored in a data center.

Once built out, TECfusions officials said, the Upper Burrell site could hold three gigawatts of power, although that would likely take about 20 years to accomplish. Three gigawatts is about three times more than the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg could generate.

By comparison, the Aspen Generation gas-fired power plant in Springdale Township generates about 556 megawatts.

Farney said early plans are for 280 megawatts of power to be supplied by West Penn Power and the remainder through its own natural gas.

“We’re not affecting how much the overall grid needs to provide,” she said. “(Area homeowners’) rates aren’t going up because we moved in.”

There are no health effects to the community by using the natural gas wells for power, Farney said.

“If there’s excess available, we’re going to give that back to the local grid,” she said. “So that is a net win.”

Florida-based TECfusions bought the former Alcoa Technical Center in December. It also received $2 million in state grant funding for its Keystone Connect Data Center multiphase project, which aims to be complete in 2031.

Farney said TECfusions is working through designs and anticipates wrapping that up by the end of May, before opening the project for bidding.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission held a public hearing on the impact of hyperscale data centers and other large-load energy users on the state’s electric grid.

That hearing included panelists from electric distribution companies, data centers and consumer advocates, all who focused on the need for transparent and consistent rules to ensure grid reliability, infrastructure needs and safeguarding ratepayers.

Locally, in addition to the Upper Burrell site, plans are proposed for a data center at the former Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County.

Reached Monday, PUC spokesman Nils Hagen-Frederiksen did not directly comment on TECfusions’ plans. He did say the period for public comments regarding the PUC’s hearing is open and can be found on the PUC’s website.

“The commission will carefully consider the testimony, along with post-hearing comments and other public input, as they consider how to best move forward,” Hagen-Frederiksen said.

Farney said TECfusions sent a consultant to the hearing to take notes and was otherwise unable to comment directly on the hearing. TECfusions was not called to testify, she said.

“We have not currently been engaged in the discussions with the PUC,” she said.