Wedoany.com Report-Nov. 23, Blackstone, through funds affiliated with Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, announced a $1.2 billion investment to develop Wolf Summit Energy, a fully contracted 600-megawatt greenfield combined-cycle gas turbine power generation facility in Harrison County, West Virginia. Last week’s Final Investment Decision provided financing, enabling the project to begin construction. This facility will be the first combined-cycle natural gas power plant built in West Virginia.

Wolf Summit is designed to supply efficient and stable electricity to meet increasing energy needs in the region, including demand from data centers supporting AI development. The project will serve Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), which supplies power to approximately 1.5 million residents across Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. According to project plans, construction will create around 500 jobs and promote additional economic activity in the local area.

Bilal Khan, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and Mark Zhu, Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Helping meet the rising demand for electricity from AI and other areas is among our highest conviction investment themes at Blackstone. We are proud that this project is expected to not only create hundreds of local jobs in West Virginia, but also generate more affordable, efficient and reliable power supply.”

Dave Ross, President & CEO of GE Vernova’s Gas Power business in the Americas, said: “I am excited that the first-ever combined-cycle, natural gas power plant in West Virginia is being built using GE Vernova’s highly efficient and flexible 7HA.02 gas turbine that can provide capacity and energy for the rising AI and industrialization demands in PJM. We look forward to working closely with Blackstone to complete development and start construction of this important project for the community.”

Governor Morrisey said: “West Virginia's status as a global energy player is only beginning to be realized. Blackstone's $1.2B investment not only signifies its commitment to West Virginia, it highlights our emergence as the leading state in the country for energy growth and investment.”

Blackstone continues to expand its investments supporting AI-related infrastructure. The firm is currently the largest data center provider in the world and holds major investments globally. Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has also invested in additional natural gas power projects, including Hill Top Energy Center, a 620-megawatt facility in Western Pennsylvania, and Potomac Energy Center, a 774-megawatt facility in Loudoun County, Virginia. Over the past three and a half years, the group has invested in approximately 1,600 megawatts of new power generation capacity in the United States.

Blackstone Energy Transition Partners focuses on control-oriented equity investments in energy-related businesses and has committed over $27 billion of equity globally. Its investment approach emphasizes supporting management teams with flexible capital to expand operations and enhance performance, with the goal of delivering reliable, affordable and cleaner energy.

Blackstone manages more than $1.2 trillion in assets, spanning real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds.