A new manufacturing facility in Findlay Township funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law plans to bring roughly 900 jobs to Southwestern Pennsylvania to produce energy efficient linear generators — units that convert mechanical energy to electrical energy.
The facility will be built adjacent to Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay Township and occupy nearly 300,000 square feet.
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Congressman Chris Deluzio spoke Tuesday following a Department of Energy announcement that Mainspring Energy will receive roughly $87 million in federal funding to construct the new facility in Findlay Township, near the Pittsburgh International Airport.
Mainspring Energy, a Silicon Valley-based firm, plans to produce 1,000 linear generators per year, aiming to provide power to hospitals, businesses, and data centers across the country.
Matt Svrcek, Chief Tech Officer at Mainspring, said linear generators provide unique flexibility because of their capacity and ability to run on almost any fuel interchangeably.
The company, which aims to invest a total of $175 million in the region, anticipates the facility will create 891 jobs in Allegheny County. According to a release from the Department of Energy, 291 of those jobs are in construction, of which 80% will seek to be unionized. Another 600 permanent operations jobs will become available once the project is completed.
The company plans to break ground in 2025 and expects the facility will produce enough units to generate an annual output of 1GWh. The company says this energy is enough to power the needs of 250,000 U.S. homes.
The Biden-Harris Administration announcement identified a total of $428 million to be invested in 15 coal-impacted communities nationwide.
Senator John Fetterman co-authored a letter in June, along with Casey and Deluzio, urging Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to approve Mainspring Energy’s grant proposal.
The company will receive a grand total of $87,070,493 from the Department of Energy’s Clean Energy and Manufacturing and Recycling grant program. The program was authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed in November, 2021.
“I don’t think there is any region of the country better positioned for the future than Southwestern Pennsylvania,” Casey said, applauding the investment.
Casey and Deluzio were also joined by Matt Smith, of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Smith said the project and partnership between business and labor is the next step in Pittsburgh’s legacy of manufacturing and energy innovation.
“We're recognizing that legacy, but we're not resting on that legacy. Rather, we as a region and industry made a really important point. We're working together collectively to invent what's next in energy, innovation, and manufacturing,” Smith said.
Senator Casey also claimed that the generators created by Mainspring will keep the United States competitive as it searches for additional sources of energy to power artificial intelligence.
“We're in a furious race with China, among others, when it comes to AI, and we have to win it. And that's going to require having places all over the country, including locations in Pennsylvania, to have the data centers and the power to generate the kind of advantage we need,” Casey said.
