Aligned Data Centers has broken ground on a new 2-gigawatt data center campus in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, marking the start of a project expected to drive about $10 billion in regional investment and support thousands of jobs
The company announced the groundbreaking on September 10, 2026, for Project Phoenix, a three-facility campus planned at the Shippingport Industrial Park in Beaver County.
The development will serve growing demand for digital infrastructure in the region while redeveloping a former industrial site.
Aligned is building the campus next to the former Shippingport Power Station. The power plant site is now being redeveloped into an advanced natural gas energy campus.
Project Phoenix to use dedicated power
Project Phoenix will not rely on the local electrical grid for its primary power supply.
Instead, the data center campus will use a dedicated onsite power source. Aligned said the arrangement will allow the project to meet its substantial electricity requirements without placing the same demand on the local grid.
The company also expects the development to eventually provide excess power capacity to the grid.
That could increase available electricity for Pennsylvania consumers and the wider regional power system.
The campus will rise within a power-intensive industrial area with a long history of electricity generation. Shippingport was also the site of the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States.
Aligned CEO Andrew Schaap said the project is intended to turn a dormant industrial site into a new economic asset for Western Pennsylvania.
Holder Construction and Kokosing will work with Aligned on construction of the campus.
Holder Construction CEO Beth Lowry said the project will create opportunities for local workers and businesses while supporting longer-term regional economic growth.
Kokosing CEO Brett Burgett said the company will provide construction expertise and skilled trade labor as the site moves from groundbreaking into development.
Thousands of jobs tied to the development
Aligned estimates that Project Phoenix will support about 3,000 construction jobs during development.
The completed campus is expected to create about 640 full-time positions for ongoing operations.
The project could also support thousands of additional jobs through contractors, suppliers and other businesses connected to the development.
Aligned expects the campus to generate additional government revenue for Beaver County once operational.
The economic impact adds another dimension to a project that will transform a former industrial property into a large-scale digital infrastructure hub.
Shippingport Mayor John Erickson said the development builds on the community’s long history as an important energy center.
Data centers designed around low water use
Aligned is also designing Project Phoenix around a low operational water footprint.
The three facilities will use closed-loop cooling systems that continuously recycle pure, deionized water.
The company said the system will eliminate the need for water for operational cooling while keeping the campus’s overall water footprint comparable to that of a standard commercial office building.
Aligned is also pursuing Green Globes certification for Project Phoenix.
The certification program, administered by the Green Building Initiative, assesses resource efficiency and a building’s broader environmental performance.
The company said the project will comply with federal, state and local environmental requirements as development progresses.
Pennsylvania’s data center growth
Project Phoenix adds another major data center development to Pennsylvania’s growing digital infrastructure pipeline.
Its 2 GW planned capacity puts the Shippingport campus among the larger data center developments now being pursued in the state.
The project also comes as developers face increasing scrutiny over the electricity, water and community impacts of large data centers.
Aligned said Project Phoenix will follow Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) requirements.
The company has also signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
For Shippingport, however, the immediate change will be physical: construction is now beginning on a three-building campus that will reshape a former industrial site and create a new source of demand for digital infrastructure in Western Pennsylvania.
Project Phoenix is part of a broader shift in how large data-center developments are approaching their power requirements. In Louisiana, ONE Nuclear is pursuing a different strategy, pushing a combined 5 GW pipeline of natural gas, battery and nuclear projects into the state’s emerging data-center corridor. The approach highlights how rising digital infrastructure demand is reshaping power development across the U.S.
Project Phoenix Data Center — Factsheet
- Developer: Aligned Data Centers
- Location: Shippingport, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
- Project type: Data center campus
- Planned capacity: 2 GW
- Number of facilities: 3 data center facilities
- Estimated regional investment: $10 billion
- Announcement: September 10, 2026
- Milestone: Groundbreaking
- Site: Shippingport Industrial Park
- Power strategy: Dedicated onsite power source
- Adjacent power development: Former Shippingport Power Station, being redeveloped as an advanced natural gas energy campus
- Grid impact: Aligned expects the project to provide substantial excess power capacity to the grid once completed
- Construction jobs: Approximately 3,000
- Permanent jobs: Approximately 640 full-time positions
- Indirect employment: Thousands of additional jobs through the regional supply chain and economy
- Cooling system: Advanced closed-loop cooling
- Operational cooling water: Designed to require zero water for operational cooling
- Water system: Pure, deionized water is continuously recycled
- Environmental certification: Green Globes certification being pursued
- Construction partners: Holder Construction and Kokosing
- Local economic impact: Expected to generate new annual government revenue for Beaver County
- Community: Shippingport, Pennsylvania
- Regulatory framework: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) requirements
- Ratepayer commitment: Aligned is a signatory of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge
- Historical context: The project is located next to the former Shippingport Power Station, associated with the development of commercial nuclear power in the United States.
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