PPL data center pipeline reaches 35.3 GW

PPL's advanced-stage data center pipeline in Pennsylvania reached 35.3 gigawatts in the third quarter, up 3.5 gigawatts from the second, PPL said on its third-quarter earnings call. On the same call, the utility said it had agreed commercial terms to supply about 2 gigawatts of generation to a QTS data center in Salem Township, Pennsylvania.

Signed load under electric service agreements in PPL Electric's Pennsylvania territory rose 300 megawatts to about 11.4 gigawatts, with 8.5 gigawatts under construction, up 2 gigawatts from the prior quarter. PPL said it has connected two data centers and energized 300 megawatts of contracted load that will ramp toward roughly 2 gigawatts. The advance is the utility's 11th consecutive quarterly increase in advanced-stage projects, according to Data Center Dynamics.

PPL's large-load tariffs in Pennsylvania and Kentucky require data centers to cover the cost of serving them, so the tariff decides who carries the buildout capex. Large-load customers will pay for most of the added investment in a $25 billion capital plan for 2027 through 2030, a $2 billion increase tied to an additional gas combined-cycle unit in Kentucky, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported.

The QTS supply deal runs through Invitium Energy, PPL's joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure in which PPL holds 51%. It began as a non-binding letter of intent, and CEO Vince Sorgi said the two teams are working on a long-form agreement. To serve the site, PPL plans two combined-cycle gas plants alongside fuel cells and battery storage. The fuel cells and batteries could be online as early as 2029, with the gas plants following in 2032 and 2033.

Sorgi said he expects the relationship to extend beyond the first phase. "If they look to expand on that Salem site and/or develop a different site, I would expect that we would be engaged in that process," he said, adding that Invitium is in talks with other customers. In Kentucky, PPL's economic development pipeline grew by 1 gigawatt to 14.7 gigawatts through 2032, including 12.8 gigawatts of data center load.

Sorgi said a further Invitium announcement is "certainly possible" before year-end, without giving a timeline. The nearer milestone is the QTS long-form agreement, which would turn agreed commercial terms into contracted load and put the 2 gigawatts into the service agreement totals behind the pipeline.