Pittsburgh-based Bedford Management Partners is working with Exus Renewables North America and the Energy Innovation Center Institute on the development of onsite power plants for data centers and AI facilities using natural gas, renewable and other always-available resources.

The announcement of the memorandum of understanding between Bedford, the Energy Innovation Center Institute, also in Pittsburgh, and Exus will be made officially Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University. The project could include a one-gigawatt on-site power system in Texas for a hyperscaler that would be what Bedford said would be a first-of-its-kind onsite “always-on” system with natural gas, solar and other options.

There are other projects possible in West Virginia and Utah and the overall initiative could lead to as many as 10 data centers and power systems that would include 6,000 new jobs. Bedford is an energy advisory and capital firm that has strong roots in the energy industry and has become a driving force in the natural and renewable field long before the increase in demand from data and AI centers. Exus Renewables builds, owns and operates utility-scale power facilities including solar, wind and long-duration battery with $1 billion in value and 5 gigawatts.

Also involved in the initiative are the EICI, Eaton, Emerson, Siemens Energy and Northeast-Western Energy Systems USA, several of which have footholds in the Pittsburgh region.

“This isn’t just another group jumping into the AI data center power market,” said Bedford CEO/Managing Director Rich DiClaudio. “And this group of companies has been building power, energy systems and infrastructure solutions for decades.”

DiClaudio said the electrical grid can’t be the sole source of power for AI and data centers and the development of the power plants will involve natural gas, renewables, nuclear and battery to provide constant power and competitive pricing.