Springdale data center could be one of many in region

Brian Regli thinks folks in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the Pittsburgh region in general should embrace the idea of data centers.

The data center he’s pushing for in Springdale, he said, may only be the beginning of a much larger current in Western Pennsylvania.

As consultant for the proposed center’s land developer, Allegheny DC Property Co., Regli got his first introduction to the community at Wednesday night’s planning commission meeting.

There, he and two architects laid out the preliminary details for what they hope will become a massive data center complex at the former site of the Cheswick Generating Station, which actually was located in Springdale.

Before the presentation, Regli sat down with TribLive at one of the few remaining buildings at the Springdale site to talk about the details of the project and where he sees the industry going.

Until a few months ago, Regli said, he was uninvolved in the proposed facility. In fact, he served as executive director of the Office of Critical Investments in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration until April.

In that role, he worked to secure and leverage federal funds for use in Pennsylvania. But, under the Trump administration, Regli said it didn’t make sense to continue that work.

He has a background as a real estate developer and entrepreneur.

He became involved in the Springdale project, he said, because he’s a true devotee of the AI development cause — especially in Western Pennsylvania.

“I fundamentally believe the artificial intelligence revolution is crucial for our community and our nation,” Regli told TribLive.

The site of the proposed complex, which would span an area similar to PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, sits in an “attractive” area for developers, he said.

That’s because of its pre-existing electrical infrastructure and its legacy of industrial use.

The data center would be a “hyperscaler,” ideal for use by large tech companies like Facebook, Amazon and Google to develop AI products.

And that’s exactly the crowd Regli said his company is trying to woo — companies in need of “high-intensity computing power.”

With the construction of one data center, the consultant said, he expects demand for others to increase in the region.

But he said he wants to make sure that demand fits with the needs of users and local residents.

“On the one hand, I’d love to be able to say, ‘Let’s build another 10 of these tomorrow,’” Regli said. “On the other hand, I think it’s going to take time for us to work through how these facilities are best built and build an ecosystem in Pittsburgh that allows us to build these quickly and efficiently.”

He said it would be “short-sighted” to come into the Springdale project not expecting more data centers to follow.

“The Pittsburgh region has a chance to lead, and Springdale has a chance to lead within the region,” he said.

That process appears to have started. A data center is planned for the former Arconic site in Upper Burrell, while developers in Homer City gear up to construct what could be the largest gas-fired power plant in the world in hopes of powering centers like these.

Further afield, Amazon recently announced its plans to spend $20 billion to build two data centers in the eastern half of the state.

Regli’s projection of Western Pennsylvania as a hub of AI development and data infrastructure is not necessarily unique, especially among those in power.

President Donald Trump, Shapiro and both of Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators have touted the future of the industry in the region.

But as the Springdale project enters its initial phases, many questions remain unanswered.

First and foremost, it’s unclear who would actually run the site.

Regli and Allegheny DC are land developers, not data center operators. He said the identity of the tenant that would manage the Springdale site is an “open question,” and his company hasn’t approached any firms yet.

Allegheny DC isn’t alone in its venture, however.

It’s owned by Davidson Kempner, one of the largest hedge fund managers in the world.

The New York-based company has tens of billions of assets under management and offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

It previously invested billions of dollars in data center projects in Europe and Northern Virginia, sometimes referred to as “data center alley.” The company had been eyeing the site in Springdale for at least a year, Regli said.

For engineering and planning, the developers have enlisted Texas-based Jacobs Solutions, one of the largest data center designers in the country.

At the Wednesday meeting in Springdale, Paul D’Onofrio, Jacobs’ director for architectural services, and landscape architect Bob Maloney took attendees through their mock-ups and fielded questions from skeptical residents.

Regli said his company also is working with Vipa Digital, a London-based data center consulting firm that has developed complexes around the globe.

As for electricity, Regli said he’s not exactly sure how much the center would require, but he offered the preliminary figure of 180 megawatts at any given moment.

Data centers require an enormous amount of electricity to operate servers and keep them from overheating, sometimes straining the local power grid.

An average American home draws about 1,200 watts of power, meaning the energy used by the proposed data center could power about 150,000 homes. While that’s a significant usage, other centers rely on several hundred megawatts at a time.

Vast water resources also would be required for hydraulic cooling processes at the site.

While the water required to cool the facility would be significant, Regli said, once the rooftop chilling machines are “charged” with an initial influx of water, the liquid would enter a closed loop to be repeatedly recycled and reused.

If the center is approved, he said, his company would become one of Springdale’s largest water customers.

Many residents at the borough’s planning commission meeting Wednesday also expressed concern about the site’s environmental impact and the potential for light and noise pollution in the neighborhoods that would border the data center.

Developers tried to assuage those worries by committing to work within Springdale’s requirements and continually citing the figure of $1 billion in investment at the site.

“Everybody has reasonable fears of something new, but, ultimately, if you want your community to thrive, redevelopment needs to happen,” Regli said. “You need to say, ‘yes,’ to something, and I think this is a great thing to say ‘yes’ to.”

He also noted the potential for 80-100 jobs at the site, aside from the hundreds or even thousands of construction jobs the project would bring. Regli said most of the permanent jobs, with some training, would be accessible to those in the local community.

Allegheny DC is expected to submit a conditional use application for the site to the planning commission in the coming weeks.

The commission would then hold a public hearing before offering its recommendations to borough council.