AWS Files Plan for Data Center Campus in Pennsylvania, US

Amazon Web Services has filed a Preliminary Land Development Plan (PLDP) for a 36-building data center campus in Homer City, Pennsylvania. The company first disclosed its interest in developing in the area in early August, when it said it was in discussions with Homer City Redevelopment, and has since filed the PLDP for a project located at the Homer City Energy Campus, approximately 50 miles east of Pittsburgh. The campus will span 1,100 acres of land in Center and Blacklick Townships in Indiana County and will cover six sites named Bruner, Helen, Green, West, Harvey/Gaston, and Rura.

Scale of the proposed development

AWS plans to build 36 data centers on the site, along with ancillary office and storage space, electrical substation infrastructure, occupied and unoccupied security features, and redundant electrical generation. Each data center building will have two stories, reaching heights of 70 feet (21 meters), and will offer 225,000 sq ft (20,903 sqm) of floor space. Once operational, the project is expected to create an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 jobs with salaries averaging between USD 80,000 and USD 100,000.

Construction timeline

Construction is planned across four phases, beginning in December 2026, with the final phase set to commence in January 2032. The campus aims to be fully completed by June 2036. Knighthead Capital Management is helping finance the project.

Power from a former coal site

The site will be powered by a 4.5GW natural gas power generation facility being constructed by Homer City Redevelopment. The land previously hosted the Homer City Generating Station, a 2GW coal power plant that operated from 1969 to 2023 and was the largest coal-burning power plant in Pennsylvania.

Plans for the new gas plant were announced last year, with data centers named as a targeted customer. Most of the energy generated from the gas plant will be used to power the data center campus, but more than 1GW will be injected back into the grid.

Community commitments

AWS has committed to establishing a community benefits agreement, stating it will "mitigate community impacts and ensure the Project delivers tangible local benefits." Amazon has pledged to invest some USD 20 billion in Pennsylvania across multiple campuses. Earlier this month, AWS announced it was dropping non-disclosure agreements for its data center projects and committed $1 billion in additional community investments across the US.

Wider Pennsylvania expansion

The Homer City project is part of a broader push by AWS into Pennsylvania. The company has been looking to develop in Salem Township since early 2024, where it acquired an existing data center from Talen Energy along with around 1,200 acres of land adjacent to the latter's nuclear power plant, with the aim of developing up to 15 buildings there. AWS has also been looking to develop in Falls and Kline Townships.