IF YOU GO
The hearing is on Monday, Aug. 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Valley View High School’s auditorium, 1 Columbus Drive, Archbald.
Throughout the country and in Northeast Pennsylvania plans to build data centers and proposals to push the projects forward are accelerating, and communities are conflicted about having the energy-intensive facilities in their backyards.
They want to know the environmental impacts, job creation numbers and economic benefits. To answer concerns and provide information about how data centers exist within a community, state Sen. Rosemary Brown (R-Monroe County) is hosting a hearing with the Senate Policy Committee on Monday, Aug. 11 at Valley View High School in Archbald.
The committee looks at broad topics that need more context to help make policy decisions, she said. State Sen. Dave Argall, R-Schuylkill County, is chair.
"This is important for the state of Pennsylvania for us to dive deeper into this and provide some information on the record ... for the area especially,” she said.
A growing sector
Gov. Josh Shapiro touted Amazon Web Services $20 billion investments in open data centers in the state, including in Luzerne County.
“Our schools and our police departments, our local communities will benefit from the millions of dollars in new tax revenue that will be brought in from this investment,” he said during an announcement on June 9.
And President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 23 “to facilitate the rapid and efficient buildout of this infrastructure by easing Federal regulatory burdens.”
'Anything and everything'
Brown, whose district also covers parts of Lackawanna County, hopes to clarify government procedures as far as data center development as well as the roles and responsibilities of state and local elected officials. She hopes questions about health, safety, utilities and revenue can be answered.
"Anything and everything that we can possibly cover within three hours,” she said.
A Doylestown-developer, 1778 Rich Pike LLC, is proposing building a large-scale data center in Covington and Clifton townships in areas that are zoned for residential development along Route 380. The developer is seeking zoning changes in both townships. Covington added data centers to its zoning on July 24.
Data centers are energy intensive. Many in the North Pocono-area who spoke out about the development have concerns with how the center would impact the local electric grid and their well water.
Brown plans to present utility facts from electric and water providers.
Data centers are also proposed in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
'A resource for everyone'
The hearing will not have public comment. Brown is asking that residents submit questions ahead of time.
"I'm trying to direct that to the right testifier and saying, 'please, if you could include this question into your testimony', that would be helpful,” she said.
Brown is finalizing who will testify and offer insight.
The hearing is open to the public. It will also be live streamed and recorded.
Brown hopes it becomes a resource for everyone with unanswered questions.
"That's my goal is to be as helpful as I can, and also continue to build my education on this and where my role is in my leadership role as a senator. I want people to feel confident in the information they're given,” Brown said.
