On November 18, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection approved the air quality plan for the proposed 3200-acre Homer City Energy Campus, which, if constructed, would become the largest fracked gas-powered AI data center in the United States.
History of power in Homer City
Homer City has been a hub of regional power generation since 1969. The Homer City Generating was once the largest coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, supplying 2 gigawatts of energy to the grid. These energy gains came at the cost of major greenhouse gas emissions, several air, water, and safety violations, and bankruptcy. The plant shut down in 2023 the massive chimneys and cooling towers were demolished in March 2025. Just a month later, Homer City Redevelopment announced plans to construct a natural gas plant and data center campus on the old power plant site.
Now that majority ownership of the facility has shifted to private equity firm Knighthead Capital, Homer City Redevelopment has reenvisioned the site as the largest fracked-gas power plant in the country, claiming an output of up to 4.4 gigawatts and a 60-65% reduction in carbon emissions per megawatt hour compared to the decommissioned coal plant. Homer City Redevelopment claims that the project is intended to supply power to an on-site data center campus, which still has yet to identify a tenant.
More power, more pollution
The emissions figures provided by Homer City Redevelopment are a bit misleading since the new plant’s power output will be more than double the old plant’s. Using the emissions figures provided by Homer City Redevelopment, at best the new plant will still produce 75% of the old plant’s emissions. But CO2 is not the only pollutant. Gas-powered plants bring a new cast of contaminants with different impacts to air, water, public health, and more. According to the Air Dispersion Modeling Protocol for the site, particulate matter, sulfuric acid mist, nitrogen oxide, and volatile organic compounds are among the harmful pollutants expected to be emitted.
Since the old plant’s stacks (previously ranked among the tallest free-standing chimneys in the world) were imploded, the new plant will use much shorter stacks. This will likely bring more localized pollution. Taller stacks generally allow emissions to be dispersed over a wider area, while shorter stacks drop their pollution in the area directly surrounding the source. The new stacks will reportedly only stand 190 feet tall, about 25% the height of the coal plant’s stacks. Exit velocity will also be about 28% lower. Atmospheric inversions in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Laurel Highlands region are quite common when the seasons change, and can trap low-lying pollution under a layer of warm air. With a high volume of pollutants being released so low to the ground, any foggy or still day in the region could easily force sensitive groups to stay indoors.
Connections to fracking in our watershed
Homer City Redevelopment also landed one of the largest gas deals in history with fracking powerhouse EQT. Under the agreement, EQT is set to supply fracked gas to satisfy the plant’s huge daily demand, tapping into both the Texas Eastern Transmission and Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage pipelines. The Texas Eastern Pipeline runs through the Youghiogheny Watershed, putting our communities at risk of increased fracking development to serve the Homer City plant.
EQT is one of the largest fracking operators in the nation. The company owns or leases over a million acres in Pennsylvania alone, with most of that land lying in Southwestern PA. The company has a long track record of accidents, which have frequently caused impacts to water resources. This summer, Springhill and Freeport Townships in Greene County declared a disaster emergency after nearly three years of aquifer contamination following a “frack-out” where an EQT drilling operation disturbed an abandoned gas well, ruining an aquifer which supplied water for over 100 community members.
With the average production of a Pennsylvanian gas well in mind, 250 new fracked gas wells would need to be drilled to supply the Homer City plant. Since well production plummets after just a few years, another 250 wells would need to be drilled every five years or so. Not only could the proposed Homer City plant impact air quality in the Laurel Highlands, it could also lock our region into a future of increased pollution from shale gas development, all to serve Artificial Intelligence.
To stay up to date on the Homer City Energy Campus, consider joining the Concerned Residents of Western Pennsylvania (CROW), a community group organizing to raise awareness and opposition to the data center. Mountain Watershed Association will also work to ensure our members are aware of this development planned for our region.
Resources and references:
https://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eFACTSWeb/searchResults_singleSite.aspx?SiteID=236714