Luzerne Township (reported), Fayette County
NextEra Energy Resources plans a 4.3-gigawatt gas-fired power hub called South Mon in southwestern Pennsylvania, sized to serve up to 3.5 gigawatts of data center and other large loads. It's funded through Japan's $550 billion investment commitment under the U.S.-Japan trade deal, and the site still hasn't been disclosed.
The White House announced a $17 billion gas-fired power plant for southwestern Pennsylvania on March 19, 2026, and the next day the Commerce Department named it Project South Mon and NextEra said its Texas and Pennsylvania hubs had been selected under the U.S.-Japan trade deal. In its April 23, 2026 earnings release NextEra described 9.5 gigawatts of gas generation across the two states, owned by the U.S. and Japan. The Center for Coalfield Justice started a tracking page in May. On Aug. 12, 2026, the parties finalized commercial terms and released an initial $3.3 billion, and Sen. McCormick placed South Mon in the Mon Valley region. On Oct. 21, 2026, NextEra said definitive agreements had been signed for its federal hubs, including one in Pennsylvania.
Update, October 26, 2026. On September 2, 2026 a Washington Examiner column reported that NextEra's Pennsylvania plant, the East Riverside Energy Center, would be built in Luzerne Township, Fayette County, along the Monongahela River, and on September 7, 2026 Energy Central reported that Fayette County Commissioner Scott Dunn had posted that NextEra announced a $13 billion, 3.75-gigawatt gas plant in the county.
The Commerce Department describes a 4.3-gigawatt gas-fired hub fed by existing interstate pipelines carrying Marcellus and Utica shale gas. No emissions estimates have been published with the announcements.
U.S. Department of CommerceNextEra says the projects are built so new demand is met with new generation to avoid raising household bills, that large-load customers will pay their fair share, and that it signed the White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge in July 2026. The plant would connect to the PJM grid.
NextEra EnergyNextEra says its Texas and Pennsylvania hubs together would create thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent operating jobs. It hasn't given a figure for Pennsylvania alone.
NextEra EnergyLeaders: Sarah Martik, executive director
Tactics: Tracking page, email alerts, public information on South Mon and the related MARL transmission line
Says there is a lot of secrecy around the project and that people should have a chance to give input once the site is known.
In Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.
Know your rights →Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.
How communities push back →