Pennsylvania-based electric utility PPL Corporation has seen its advanced-stage data center pipeline grow to 31.8GW in Q2, up from 28.3GW in Q1.

According to its Q2 earnings call, of the 31.8GW, 11GW have signed electrical service agreements, and 6.5GW are under construction.

“Signed data center agreements with PPL Electric Utilities increased for the tenth consecutive quarter to about 32 GW, an increase of 3.5GW from last quarter,” said Vince Sorgi, president and CEO of PPL.

The utility also said that, during the quarter, two data centers under construction began taking utility service, expected to ramp up to approximately 2GW of load by 2031.

In its Kentucky service area, the utility reported 13.7GW of potential load growth, with data center demand representing 11.6GW, which was an 800MW increase from Q1.

“Of that pipeline, approximately 1.3GW is now supported by signed reimbursement agreements, up from approximately 900MW in the first quarter,” Sorgi added.

Sorgi also reflected on a recent executive order by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear that would require data center companies to demonstrate they would not harm ratepayers or the environment.

“It was good to see the order come out. We view it as fully consistent with the ratepayer protection principles that we’ve been championing and even the ratepayer protection pledge that we signed recently, where new large load customers should be supporting and paying for the infrastructure and the resources that are needed to serve them,” he said.

“Importantly, the order did not prohibit or put a moratorium on data center development. It simply is reinforcing that we need to have customer protections built into the process, which, of course, we have built into our approach.”

The utility also reported progress on its joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure, Invitium Energy. The JV focuses on developing large-scale power generation to meet surging data center energy demands. It operates independently from PPL’s regulated utility arm.

The utility said that the companies now have strategic land sites capable of supporting 8-14GW of new generation capacity, as well as more than 5GW of new combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) generation that has been accepted in the PJM Interconnection queue. In addition, the utility said it has more than 5GW of reservation agreements for CCGT turbines.

Sorgi said that while the JV is advancing, the utility does “not expect the earnings contributions from the JV to be material through 2030.”

PPL primarily serves the Pennsylvania market, delivering energy to more than 1.4 million customers across the state, in addition to its two subsidiaries in Louisville and Kentucky.