HOMER CITY, Pa. – The Homer City Energy Campus is rapidly becoming a beacon of opportunity for Indiana County families. Over 1,800 direct‑hire tradespeople and skilled contractors are on site, representing nine local union organizations, with the workforce expected to reach 2,000 by New Year’s Day.
Workers include boilermakers, carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, laborers, millwrights, operators, pipefitters and teamsters – the same trades that their fathers practiced when the former coal plant ran three shifts. Today, they can stay close to their homes, the woods they hunt and the streams they fish, while earning good‑paying wages.
Union Leaders Praise the Project
Shawn Steffee, business agent for Boilermakers Local 154 and now president of the South‑Central Building Trades, said the campus is “creating life‑changing opportunities” for members and apprentices in their own community. “We cannot hire fast enough,” he added.
Ben Steinmeyer of I.B.E.W. Local 5 highlighted the generational impact, noting that the project provides “decades worth of work” while modernizing America’s grid. Chad Morrison, business manager for Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 354, pointed out that the development allowed his union to consolidate three aging training schools into a larger apprenticeship center.
Political Support and Regulatory Context
State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman called the hiring curve “historic” and said the project strengthens regional economic growth. State Rep. Jim Struzzi called the partnership between Homer City Generation and local labor unions a model for the Commonwealth.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s administration has imposed strict data‑center guardrails, but the Homer City Energy Campus secured its air permit in November and proceeded with construction of up to 4.4 GW across 3,200 acres, targeting power delivery by 2027.
Economic Ripple Effect
Steffee predicts the influx of money will revitalize local gas stations, shops, churches and barbershops, bringing a sense of hope to the town of roughly 1,800 residents. Currently, more workers are on the hill above the town than there are residents below.
Over the life of the project, Homer City Generation projects more than 10,000 construction jobs and about 1,000 permanent positions, underscoring the campus’s role in strengthening families, communities and the Pennsylvania economy.
Original reporting: Herald-Standard – latest news for Uniontown, Pennsylvania — read the source article.
