Pittsburgh emerges as hub for critical electrical components amid surging global demand

Large-scale investments each by two international manufacturers, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. and Hitachi Energy, highlight the growing importance of the Pittsburgh region in a little-talked-about but key part of the global need for more electricity for artificial intelligence, data centers and upgrades to the grid.

Hitachi Energy announced Tuesday a $70 million upgrade at its factories in Westmoreland County, expanding the production of the switchgears and large-scale breakers critical to high-voltage stepdowns for electrical generators and utilities at its Mount Pleasant site while moving other production and service to its existing Greensburg location and moving into a newly constructed third location in Hunker.

Another local company in the industry, Warrendale-based Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. (MEPPI), made a big announcement of its own: It would invest $86 million to build a 160,000-square-foot advanced switchgear and power electronics manufacturing plant in New Galilee, in the Turnpike Distribution Center near the Beaver and Lawrence county lines.