Aligned Breaks Ground on 2GW Project Phoenix Data Center Campus in Pennsylvania

Aligned Data Centers has commenced construction on Project Phoenix, a 2GW data center campus in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, marking one of the largest hyperscale developments announced in the region and signaling a growing industry shift toward dedicated on-site power generation for AI-era computing infrastructure.

The groundbreaking, announced by the company, covers a three-facility campus within the Shippingport Industrial Park in Beaver County. The site sits adjacent to the Shippingport Power Station, a former coal-fired plant currently being redeveloped into an advanced natural gas energy campus. Critically, Aligned said the data center campus will draw from its own dedicated on-site power source rather than the local electrical grid — a design choice that reflects the mounting pressure on regional utilities to keep pace with the power demands of gigawatt-scale computing.

"Project Phoenix represents the future of responsible data center development," said Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned. "The project is a legacy reimagined that transforms a dormant industrial site into a foundational asset for the local community. Beyond delivering critical infrastructure for our customers, this investment establishes a powerful new economic hub for Western Pennsylvania and creates long-term prosperity for local workers and the community."

Shippingport, located roughly 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh near the West Virginia and Ohio borders, has a deep industrial heritage. The 660-acre industrial park was previously home to the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant, a 2.49GW coal facility owned and operated by FirstEnergy — later Energy Harbor Corp — that launched in 1976 and shut down in 2019. Frontier Group of Companies acquired the site from Energy Harbor in 2022 and subsequently announced plans to develop a 2.7GW natural gas plant there, to be served by EQT Corporation and National Fuel Gas Company. In total, Frontier has said the site will be able to offer up to 3.6GW of behind-the-meter capacity. News that Aligned was exploring development within the industrial park first surfaced in February.

Shippingport Mayor John Erickson emphasized the project's significance to the local community and workforce, noting that the town has long been defined by its role in powering the country as the birthplace of commercial nuclear energy. He described Project Phoenix as honoring that legacy by taking a historic site and rebuilding it into a modern engine of innovation, creating thousands of jobs and sustainable career pathways for the next generation. "This is far more than an infrastructure project — it is a profound investment in our community's future," Erickson said.

The project adds to Aligned's rapidly expanding North American footprint. The company currently operates campuses in Illinois, Texas, Utah, Arizona, and Northern Virginia, with additional sites in development across Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, and Virginia. Aligned itself changed hands last year when Macquarie Asset Management sold the company to a consortium comprising the AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), MGX, and BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for $40 billion — a transaction that underscored the enormous capital flowing into data center platforms amid the AI boom.

Project Phoenix illustrates a broader industry trend in which developers are increasingly bypassing strained local grids in favor of self-generated power, particularly for campuses at the gigawatt scale. By co-locating with a redeveloped energy campus on a former fossil fuel site, Aligned is positioning the project as both a practical solution to power constraints and a model for repurposing industrial brownfields. The development is expected to serve as a significant economic catalyst for Western Pennsylvania, though it also raises questions about natural gas dependence and the long-term sustainability profile of AI-driven infrastructure buildouts.