Energy Innovation Center Institute (EICI) Launches First-of-Its-Kind Infrastructure Academy Regional Training (IART) Facility

The IART Facility will provide critically needed skill and resiliency training for both new and incumbent workers in the Energy, Utility, Digital/AI and other Critical Infrastructure.

PITTSBURGH, July 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit hosted by Senator David McCormick at Carnegie Mellon University, the Energy Innovation Center Institute (EICI) announced the next phase of its highly successful Infrastructure Academy, the development of the initial Infrastructure Academy Regional Training (IART) Facility. The construction of this groundbreaking workforce and resiliency center in Southwestern Pennsylvania is expected to be the first of a group of such facilities throughout the US.

With an estimated budget of up to $135 Million (built in phases) for the first location, it is estimated that it will serve as a model for as many as 15 facilities built strategically across the US at a total estimated investment of $2.1 billion.

The EICI's Infrastructure Academy is part of EICI's larger workforce programming which together have already trained over 5,300 individuals —with 86% of graduates placed in full-time jobs - plus upskilling, safety, and OQ (Operator Qualification) training for 1,800 incumbent workers in energy, utilities, and critical infrastructure sectors.

Set to be constructed in Southwestern Pennsylvania and service the tri-state region of Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia, the IART Facility will be the nation's first integrated training and operational site for the future of energy, utility, critical infrastructure, microgrids, on-site power generation, AI data centers, and AI-enabled workforce training.

It has been designed to include:

• Full suite of classrooms, labs, lineman yards, confined space simulation, and pipeline safety labs, pole and high voltage yards, leak towns, equipment yards, 811 and rescue safety systems
• A live operating Microgrid that deploys natural gas, renewables, BESS, and SMR (simulation)
• Training, integrated logic and curriculum development for critical onsite "always-on" power systems with blended power and fuel stacks
• A modular AI data center will be powered by a mixed fuel microgrid. It will be the first operationally integrated onsite power system, AC/DC, and liquid cooling system testbed for rapid commercialization, curriculum development, and training. 
• Cybersecurity, OT/IT grid integration, and AI-augmented skilled trades training

An innovative component of IART is the creation of the Resiliency Institute, that will apply nuclear-industry-grade fault analysis to optimize resiliency in modern distributed energy systems—without relying on high-cost, brute-force full system redundancy.

"A skilled and prepared workforce is key to ensuring Americans energy and infrastructure dominance. EICI's IART facility is the first-of-its-kind skilled trade training facility to combine utility, critical infrastructure, on-site power, AI, and nuclear fault modeling into a single, operational training environment," said Rich DiClaudio, President and CEO of EICI. "We're fusing disciplines that were once siloed—because the future workforce must be cross-trained in the challenges of on-site "all-of-the-above" power stacks, resilience, cybersecurity, and AI."

Already supported by 21 employer, trade groups, and utility partners—including founding partner Peoples Natural Gas—the IART Facility is designed to serve the tri-state region of Western PA, Eastern OH and West Virginia and will act as a national model for critical and digital infrastructure workforce development.

The project is designed to deliver a high return on public investment:

• Projected to generate 7,350+ jobs
• Estimated to boost regional GDP by $944 million
• Reduces duplicative spending across dozens of utilities and public-sector workforce development programs

EICI's model blends merit-based recruitment, especially from disadvantaged and veteran communities, with hands-on technical training aligned to the needs of the energy, utility, and infrastructure industries.

"This won't be just another training center," Mike Huwar, President of Peoples Natural Gas, said. "It's the future of how we build and protect America's most important energy and power systems—with the workforce leading, not lagging, the technology."

Media Contact:
Rich DiClaudio, President and CEO
[email protected]
412.613.6538 

About EICI:
Initially founded to help design and ramp up the eco-system of the 200,000 sq. ft. Energy Innovation Center, the Energy Innovation Center Institute is a nonprofit energy and infrastructure workforce and innovation hub based in Pittsburgh, PA, with a mission to break cycles of poverty at scale by strengthening America's energy and critical infrastructure dominance through real-world, high-skill career training and national-scale employer partnerships. To date they have trained 5,300 people and their employed graduates have earn $64 million in aggregate compensation. 

SOURCE Energy Innovation Center Institute