Pennsylvania's gas belt draws AI data center capital as Alpha Compute signs $55 million term sheet
The scramble for dedicated power across the United States artificial intelligence buildout has reached Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale country. Alpha Compute, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated AI infrastructure company, signed…
Key takeaways
- Alpha Compute, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated AI infrastructure company, signed a binding term sheet to acquire land and natural gas rights in northern Pennsylvania for $55 million.
- The deal covers about 1,800 mineral acres of undeveloped Marcellus gas rights and targets a 200-megawatt data center campus with on-site gas-fired power generation.
- CEO Brittany Kaiser expects to close after a 60-day diligence period, with operations beginning in the third quarter of 2027 and full build-out costing about $500 million over several years.
- The campus would be Alpha Compute's first US data center development, aimed at users seeking secure computing with end-to-end encryption such as governments, militaries, and private organizations.
- The transaction remains subject to due diligence, financing, permitting, local approvals, and final agreements, and the site's exact location has not been disclosed.
The scramble for dedicated power across the United States artificial intelligence buildout has reached Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale country. Alpha Compute, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated AI infrastructure company, signed a binding term sheet to acquire land and natural gas rights in northern Pennsylvania for $55 million, Chief Executive Brittany Kaiser told Reuters, targeting a 200-megawatt data center campus. The deal covers about 1,800 mineral acres of undeveloped Marcellus gas rights and would include on-site gas-fired power generation.
Kaiser said she expects to close the transaction after a 60-day diligence period, with the campus beginning operations in the third quarter of 2027. The full build-out, including electrical connections, is expected to run about $500 million spread over several years, she said. The facility could eventually be expanded to generate one gigawatt of power, Kaiser added.
The energy-first model in context
The project fits a sector-wide pattern. Utilities have struggled to connect large AI facilities to existing grids quickly, and developers across the United States are increasingly securing their own generation capacity rather than waiting. Pennsylvania's combination of Marcellus shale supply, legacy power infrastructure, and proximity to East Coast population centers has concentrated that capital in the state. Amazon announced $20 billion in planned investment there last year.
For Alpha Compute, which has traditionally provided confidential-computing services, the Pennsylvania campus would be the company's first data center development in the United States. Kaiser said potential users are focused on secure computing with end-to-end encryption, a demand profile associated with governments, militaries, and private-sector organizations protecting sensitive data.
Conditions on the path to close
The agreement gives Alpha Compute an exclusive option to acquire the assets, but the transaction remains subject to due diligence, financing, permitting, and final agreements. Local approvals will also be required, against the backdrop of communities in several states tightening restrictions on data centers because of electricity and water demands. Kaiser said local reception had so far been positive.
On balance, the cross-border capital flow here is a BVI-incorporated company directing investment into domestic US energy and compute assets, a pattern that has widened across the capex cycle as AI demand outpaces grid capacity. The site's exact location has not been disclosed.
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