PITTSBURG (TNS) — As the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit drew to a close Tuesday at Carnegie Mellon University, event organizer U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick said the day could wind up being remembered as the start of an “economic renaissance” in Pennsylvania.

That prediction came on the heels of nearly two dozen companies at the summit announcing plans for more than $90 billion in development projects across Pennsylvania.

McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said the projects would position the state as a leader in the energy and artificial intelligence industries and create tens of thousands of jobs.

President Donald Trump, seated beside McCormick, told the hundreds of business and government leaders on hand that more announcements were in the works.

“You’re going to see some real action here, so get ready,” Trump said.

“This is a really triumphant day for the people of the commonwealth and for the United States of America,” the president added. “We’re doing things that nobody ever thought possible.”

The invitation-only summit featured a who’s-who list of political luminaries and business leaders, headlined by Trump, McCormick and Gov. Josh Shapiro — the only Democratic politician to make an appearance Tuesday.

‘No better place than Pa.’

Organizers billed the summit as an opportunity to foster collaboration between the state’s well-established energy sector and its emergent tech and artificial intelligence companies, which require huge amounts of electricity.

“As the nation’s second-largest energy producer and a global nuclear power leader, Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned to deliver the abundant, affordable energy that the growing AI and advanced manufacturing sectors demand,” McCormick said. “There’s no better place … than Pennsylvania.”

Bipartisan cooperation was a main theme of a summit panel featuring McCormick, Shapiro and Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services. The governor has fashioned himself as a bipartisan problem solver on business issues and an “all of the above” advocate on energy production, telling the crowd Tuesday he and McCormick know “how critically important it is to grow our economy in Pennsylvania.”

One key point of agreement between the elected officials is speeding up project permitting. Shapiro signed an executive order last year to fast-track some of the largest proposals, including for natural resource extraction and energy production.

Brendan Bechtel, CEO of construction giant Bechtel, said “bipartisan, durable permit reform” is also needed at the federal level. If a deal doesn’t get done by the end of the year, Bechtel predicted, “it’s not going to happen for another generation.”

At times, the business summit was deeply partisan.

Trump, during his remarks, took time to boast of his tax bill that went into law earlier this month and blamed Biden for the coal-fired Homer City power plant in Indiana County shutting down. That plant is now being redeveloped into the nation’s largest generation station fueled by natural gas.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticized the Obama and Biden administrations for boarding “the energy crazy train” with their politics promoting renewable energy, adding, “Thank God President Trump won the election.”

Multiple panelists also took a confrontational tone when it came to global competition, describing developing artificial intelligence and other forms of high technology as a “war” or “race” against China.

World War II analogies were common, harkening to Pittsburgh’s crucial role in supplying steel for the Allied forces.

Trump told the summit crowd the United States is “way ahead of China” in energy and innovation, but he also spoke fondly of President Xi Jinping.

“I have a great relationship with (China’s) President Xi,” he said. “We smile at the back-and-forth.”

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, said the congressman was invited to the summit but could not attend because of his duties in Washington, including working on the defense bill as a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“Congressman Deluzio knows that we are in a global race with Communist China on AI,” said spokeswoman Zoe Bluffstone. “He intends to do everything he can to make sure Pennsylvania workers and industries help deliver American leadership and a booming economy and will keep welcoming responsible investment into our region to power our energy future and protect our air and water.”

Other Democrats from Southwestern Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Braddock and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee of Swissvale, did not return messages.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said climate should not be a consideration when trying to expand power-hungry data centers and other tech infrastructure.

“The number one investor in the environmental narrative is China,” Lutnick said. “We have Alaska, we have shale, we have oil, we have natural gas. We have the capacity to drive the AI revolution in America. China does not.”

Skilled trades also got plenty of attention at the summit, with several panelists saying the number of skilled workers needs to grow if the country hopes to quickly build tech infrastructure. Mike Rowe, host of the television show “Dirty Jobs” and an advocate for skilled labor, noted these jobs are more immune to automation than much white-collar work.

“We’ve been telling kids for 15 years to code,” Rowe said. “Well, AI is coming for the coders. They’re not coming for the welders.”

Investment overview

Among the blockbuster plans announced Tuesday, Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative investment firm with more than $1 trillion in assets under management, announced a $25 billion investment to develop data centers and natural gas plants in Northeast Pennsylvania, along with a joint venture with PPL Corp. for power generation.

The investment is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs, McCormick’s office said.

“What we’re thinking about and what makes us so excited about the area is the idea you can co-locate the data centers right next to the source of power,” Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Gray said. “And that’s really the special sauce here.”

The tech giant Google announced a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management to modernize two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania, resulting in 670 megawatts of power generation to support the state.

Additionally, Google said it is investing more than $25 billion in data center and AI infrastructure across the PJM power grid region, which includes all of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio and parts of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Google said it is also launching AI Works for America, starting with AI Works for Pennsylvania, to train workers and small businesses on what it called essential AI skills.

“Google’s investments announced today will increase energy abundance and empower Americans with the skills needed to thrive in the AI era,” said Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer for Google and its parent holding company, Alphabet Inc.

McCormick’s office said the Homer City Redevelopment Group has reached an agreement in principle to buy $15 billion of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania to support over 4 gigawatts of power generation at a proposed redevelopment site in Indiana County.

TribLive reported Tuesday developers will present plans Wednesday for a $10 billion, 3,200-acre, natural-­gas power plant at the Homer City site.

The former Homer City Generating Station, once a coal-fired plant, is being proposed to provide the electricity required for AI and high-performance computing.

Westinghouse Electric Co. said it will bring 10 new nuclear power plant reactors under construction by 2030 and over 15,000 jobs to Southwestern Pennsylvania — creating an estimated $6 billion in economic impact.

“President Trump, you’ve led on nuclear energy,” said Dan Sumner, CEO of Westinghouse. “Our industry is invigorated, and we’re ready to mobilize.”

Trump assured the leaders on hand they would have “tremendous success” in Pennsylvania.

“This is the smartest group of talent that you’ve ever had … in one room,” the president said. “If I can help you, let me know.”