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PPL-Blackstone joint venture secures land to meet growing demand

Executives from the company announced on Thursday that PPL Corp.'s joint venture with Blackstone, to build power plants for Big Tech Data Centers, has secured land, and is in discussion with potential customers, as well as gas pipeline companies, and turbine manufacturers.

The U.S. demand for electricity is rising due to the energy-intensive data centres needed for artificial intelligence expansion. This has raised concerns about reliability and costs for power grids that are running out of supplies.

PPL CEO Vincent Sorgi stated on a conference call with investors that "Meeting the unprecedented growth in demand will require an unprecedented reaction and will require everyone to be a part of this solution."

PPL said separately on the call that it would extend the retirement of coal-fired generation in Kentucky due to the growing demand for electricity.

PPL, an electric utility that operates primarily in Pennsylvania, announced this joint venture earlier this month during a summit on AI energy in Pittsburgh, which was attended by U.S. president Donald Trump, technology giants and executives from the power industry.

Energy companies who previously only operated power lines are now looking at other options, such as developing their own power stations, to increase power supply.

PPL's data center demand has risen to 14.5 gigawatts. This is equivalent to the amount of power needed to run all the homes of California, the U.S. largest state.

PPL also supports state legislation in Pennsylvania which would allow utilities fully regulated to own their power generation. This is not currently allowed in Pennsylvania.

PPL Electric or any of its subsidiaries regulated by the PPL Electric Corporation are not included in this joint venture.

(source: Reuters)