A recent video from Gecko Robotics shows the North Side company’s drones inspecting smokestacks, bridges and biplanes around Pittsburgh, creating digital renderings to check for cracks and other damage.
That combination — dated infrastructure and modern technology — has fueled Gecko’s rise in the city since 2013.
On Thursday, the company announced with Gov. Josh Shapiro a partnership that will broaden the system to hundreds of power facilities across the country.
In a bid to “transform the American power grid,” Gecko penned a $100 million deal with North American Energy Services Corp., an Issaquah, Wash.-based energy construction company responsible for maintenance on about 65 gigawatts of power, including thermal and renewables.
The deal may grow beyond $250 million to meet demand, the companies said in a Thursday announcement.
Mr. Shapiro shared few additional details at a virtual news conference with Gecko officials on Thursday afternoon, but said the partnership “both embraces our legacy in Pennsylvania as a national leader in energy and continues to set the stage for Pittsburgh to lead the way in the future of tech and robotics.”
“We are facing growing demand for energy, and I'm proud that Pennsylvania innovation and ingenuity is going to help us meet that demand,” he said.
They cited a report by the consulting firm Grid Strategies that found U.S. electricity demand is expected to grow by almost 16% over the next five years, driven in part by the need to power data centers for artificial intelligence.
“Every kilowatt counts,” NAES president and CEO Mark Dobler said in a statement. “By partnering with Gecko, we are able to be a pioneer for the industry and demonstrate the advantage that can be gained when turning to innovation and technology.”
Gecko said its AI-powered software system called Cantilever accurately predicts how a plant can best operate. Facilities can essentially “learn” from other similar facilities on the same platform how to “yield the most optimum performance without causing catastrophic failures,” the company said.
It claims the overall Gecko approach can reduce reactive maintenance by 80% and double the lifespan of an asset.
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a national energy emergency and directing agencies to sweep the country for energy generation plays, including on federal lands.
“The White House has rightly acknowledged that we are in an energy crisis, and that continuing on our current path for production and supply puts our country at risk,” Gecko co-founder and Chief Executive Jake Loosararian said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with NAES and, together, bolster the U.S.’ energy security at some of our most critical power facilities using what America does better than anyone — innovation!”
The partnership’s branding conveys some of its influence with “Elon meets Edison” — a nod to the electric-car-leader-turned-chainsaw-wielding-DOGE-leader Elon Musk, and the lightbulb inventor Thomas Edison, whose incandescent breakthrough sparked some of the first large-scale electric power plants.
Sixty-five gigawatts is enough to power at least 50 million homes. OpenAI and other big tech companies are looking for sites with at least 1 gigawatt to power data centers for AI systems like ChatGPT.
It was not immediately clear if the partnership would benefit any specific projects in Pennsylvania.
First Published: February 27, 2025, 12:00 p.m.
Updated: February 28, 2025, 3:01 a.m.
