PPL told its third quarter earnings call that the advanced stage data center pipeline in its Pennsylvania territory has grown to 35.3 gigawatts, up 3.5 gigawatts from the second quarter and the eleventh consecutive quarterly increase. The harder numbers sit below the headline: load signed under electric service agreements rose 300 megawatts to about 11.4 gigawatts, of which 8.5 gigawatts is under construction, up 2 gigawatts in the quarter. The utility has connected two data centers and energised 300 megawatts of contracted load that will ramp to about 2 gigawatts.
Chief executive Vince Sorgi said that as projects move from initial agreements to service agreements and then into construction, the company gains visibility into the infrastructure and generation ultimately needed. In Kentucky, the economic development pipeline grew 1 gigawatt to 14.7 gigawatts through 2032, including 12.8 gigawatts of data center load.
PPL also agreed commercial terms to supply about 2 gigawatts of generation to a QTS data center in Salem Township, Pennsylvania, through Invitium Energy, its joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure, in which PPL holds 51 percent. The supply plan uses two combined cycle gas plants plus fuel cells and battery storage, with the fuel cells and batteries possible as early as 2029 and the gas plants following in 2032 and 2033. The parties are working toward a long form agreement and gave no timeline.
To serve the load, PPL raised its capital investment plan for 2027 to 2030 to 25 billion dollars, a 2 billion dollar increase driven by an additional gas combined cycle unit in Kentucky. Sorgi said large load tariffs in both states require data centers to cover the cost of serving them, so existing customers do not bear the burden, and suggested election results elsewhere could push further projects toward Pennsylvania and Kentucky.