WVIA News reached out to federal and state elected officials in districts that have proposals for data center campuses.
Here are their responses on the subject:
State Rep. Jamie Walsh, R-Luzerne
Jamie Walsh is one of the most outspoken members of the state legislature on data centers. He is concerned about privacy, among other issues.
"A lot of people don't know, every single thing that they do on their phone is being housed in one of these data centers, and their information when they accept their privacy agreements on their phones, they're accepting a privacy agreement that their information can be sold to a third party," he said.
Walsh covers the 117th House District, which covers parts of Luzerne County.
In March, Walsh started receiving calls about the 500kV power line that will run through southern Luzerne County.
"It's where everybody leaves the cities to go and fish and hunt and bike and hike, and it's like the rural area of Luzerne County, and it's the last area that has not been overdeveloped," he said.
Then he began researching data centers.
"And really diving in to try to find out, you know, where are they being built? Are they good for the community? And I came across Data Center Alley, which is about four hours south of here in Northern Virginia in Loudoun County,” he said.
Walsh made a documentary about his visit to Loudoun.
"If they were keeping these in the industrial zones, and they were respecting the community members, and they were getting electricity … responsibly, instead of just saying, we're taking this route whether you like it or not, I think that this could be good for Pennsylvania,” he said. “But they are not. They are not doing it that way.”
Walsh separates tech giants, like Amazon and Microsoft, who he said are part of the country’s national security, from most data center users.
"That's a red herring that they're throwing out there. We need this for national security. I'm not doubting we do,” he said. “You'll see a lot of the applications that are coming over; you don't even know who the applicant is.”
Walsh said he is 100% for property owners’ rights. Some have sale agreements with developers, but Pennsylvanians' rights must be prioritized and protected.
"That is it. End of story. If they don't want it in their community, go elsewhere," he said.
"Some of this money these developers are throwing around, I mean, it can create generational wealth for some families, some, very few,” he said. “In the 117th, the people that live here already feel they have generational wealth because of the community and how beautiful it is, and how it's not overdeveloped, and they're going to be able to pass that down to the next generation. And that's more important. That is more important than any money can ever buy.”
Walsh is hosting a town hall meeting to provide information and take questions about data center expansion proposals and their potential benefits and consequences for Luzerne County. He will be joined by a panel of four guests who will share their research on the issue and take questions in their fields of expertise.
The town hall is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 23, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Sugarloaf Township Fire Hall, 95 West County Road, Sugarloaf Twp.
State Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-Lackawanna
State Rep. Kyle Mullins often attends data center-related public meetings in his district.
He covers the 112th House District, which covers parts of Lackawanna County, including Archbald, which has the most data center proposals in any municipality in the state.
Mullins said the need for state legislation and regulation over the new and expanding industry comes from his experience in Lackawanna County.
"I don't blame neighbors of mine for feeling overwhelmed. It felt like, for a while, there was a new proposal every other day,” he said.
Mullins does not want to see any town covered in data centers.
"I believe that we all at every government, governing level and industry, industry player in this space need to strike a balance between the need for these data centers and quality of life and … environmental concerns, which must be the priority,” he said.
Mullins said at the state legislative level, they are hurrying to write proposals and bills to put guardrails on the industry.
Some of those bills are for consumer protections, to make sure that rate payers aren't paying for data center development.
Mullins is working on legislation that would require accountability and transparency measures to be enforced on the industry.
Water use reporting and community standards for data center developments is another focus of legislation, as well as community benefits requirements for data centers, requiring fair wages for people who build the centers and incentivizing energy efficiency and power sources, and finally, emergency preparedness surrounding data center development.
Mullins and his colleagues on the energy and consumer affairs committee included a provision in a recently passed state budget bill.
"That would basically work to cut down on the data center speculation … that has the potential to drive up energy prices. It's called load forecasting,” he said.
Mullins said it comes as little reassurance or comfort to residents that not all of the centers will be built. The industry should not be allowed to build more data centers than needed, he said.
"Which is why municipalities must have worked to modernize their zoning plans to make sure that any potential data center sites are as far away from resident homes as possible,” he said.
Mullins said when they are built, they should be as far away as possible from residential development and that they abide and comply with the highest environmental and community standards.
"People in our area, we are still very cognizant of the sins and scars of industries past,” he said. “When coal in the coal industry bottomed out, and they up and left town, they left us with the still visible scars of a prior Industrial Revolution. That's not okay. That's not okay. And we are still dealing with acid mine drainage into our waterways. We are still dealing with mountains of coal refuse of slag piles throughout our region.”
"So we are rightly more sensitive to new industries, perhaps than other parts of the state and our country,” he said.
He said that lessons must be learned from the past.
“And that requires a balance, not standing in the way of progress, of the march of technology, but these are multi-billion dollar corporations, they can afford to be responsible neighbors," he said.
State Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill
In August, Argall chaired a PA Senate Republicans Policy Committee hearing on data center development in Pennsylvania. State Sen. Rosemary Brown called the hearing.
"I think the most important thing that I learned was, while many are being proposed, only a few are going to be built," he said. "We don't need all of them. We need some, but, you know, most of them will never be constructed.”
Argall represents the 29th Senate District, which covers all of Schuylkill and Carbon Counties, and parts of Luzerne County, including Hazleton.
"I think people are just beginning to get up to speed on this, just like I had to. And so I think anytime there's change that, especially a major change, that gets people very, very concerned," he said. "And I think they're especially concerned if there's going to be one built very, very close to them. I think they're also very concerned about the, you know, the water use.”
Argall believes that data centers built on old coal mining sites or abandoned industrial areas far away from homes will be more welcomed by community members.
"As you watch this debate continue, I think you'll see that … there are good sites and there are very unpopular sites, and it's not that hard to figure out which ones are which,” he said.
State Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe
State Sen. Rosemary Brown said it's extremely important that decisions regarding data center development are made at the local level, not by the state.
"Townships and boroughs hold this responsibility. This is why updated local ordinances and proactive planning are critical to ensuring residential neighborhoods and business districts are properly protected, the true benefit of local government control," she said.
She covers the 40th Senate District, which includes parts of Lackawanna, Monroe and Wayne Counties. Archbald is in Brown's district, and she has attended public meetings in the borough.
Brown encourages residents to stay engaged with their local governments by attending meetings, signing up for municipal communications and remaining involved even when there are no major agenda items.
"Ongoing awareness and participation are essential to strong and responsive local governance," she said.
Brown proposed legislation that requires data center developers to provide detailed information to local officials before any formal application is accepted.
"This includes documentation from utility providers outlining projected power and water usage — both short- and long-term," she said. "The goal is to ensure elected officials have the time and information necessary to fully understand the scope of proposed projects, ask informed questions, and evaluate potential impacts."
"While data centers may offer economic benefits, there are also valid concerns being raised by residents," she said. "This legislation is intended to promote transparency and informed decision-making, ensuring both elected officials and community members have accurate, complete information so that long-term community interests are protected and potential benefits and risks are clearly understood."
State Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna
Until recently, most of the data centers were not proposed in State Sen. Marty Flynn’s district. Despite that, residents and constituents have called him out for supporting the industry and possibly being involved in a data center development.
He represents the 22nd Senate District, which covers parts of Lackawanna, Luzerne and Monroe counties.
Flynn said he is a small minority partner on a building in Wilkes-Barre with Al Patel. Patel was involved in developing a data center in Blakely, but since pulled plans. Flynn said he has nothing to do with that Lackawanna County development.
On Jan. 23, he posted an over four-minute-long video on Facebook that said he does not support data centers in residential areas.
"I don't think someone's home should be encroached upon by building a data center right next to them," he says in the video.
"That would drive me crazy. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I supported something like that, where I could ruin someone's life or their property value."
He also said he does not support state money going to data center developments.
Flynn attended a zoning hearing in Ransom Twp. on Jan. 20, where stone quarry owner, Scranton Materials LLC, faced a setback in developing a data center on Newton Road.
In December, he said there is a knee jerk reaction to new development in the area because of the scars of Anthracite Coal Mining.
"People don't want something unknown next to them, whether it's good or bad," he said. “But at the same time, I think there's a problem in if you don't get these data centers, they're going to go somewhere else. So I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing or a good thing, and I think local governments should decide whether they want it or not.”
Flynn thinks there is a place for data centers in the region, particularly in industrial areas that are already used for warehousing. He thinks they would bring in a significant amount of tax revenue that the area hasn’t seen since the coal mining days.
"But at the same time … there's a trickle-down effect to that, like, how is this going to affect rate payers? Because you're sucking up so much energy. Is it going to be direct? Is it going to be from the PJM grid, like and then, can the grid handle that?” he said.
Flynn believes struggling communities could benefit from the development.
"If you want your schools to be funded, you want your garbage to be picked up, your roads in your place to look better than it did yesterday, you know, you got to think about these things and investment and this is not a small investment," he said.
Flynn acknowledges that there are minimal jobs once a data center is built.
"Where you see corporate investment, then they're going to invest in other things once they're here, and it's going to revitalize the area.”
U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Luzerne
Congressman Rob Bresnahan said "decisions about data center development must start and end with what’s best for our friends, families and neighbors who call this community home."
He said local government has a responsibility to balance economic opportunity with quality of life.
"And that balance matters," he said.
Bresnahan represents the 8th Congressional District, which covers all of Lackawanna, Pike and Wayne counties and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties.
During U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick's inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh in July, Blackstone Infrastructure announced it would invest $25 billion in Northeast Pennsylvania to build new natural gas power plants.
The project is expected to create 6,000 construction jobs over a 10-year period and 3,000 permanent jobs.
Bresnahan did not attend the summit but released a statement about the investment after it was announced.
“Our region is full of untapped power, and is more than ready for new growth, investments, and opportunities ... I thank Blackstone Infrastructure for choosing NEPA to be a part of their future,” he said at the time.
This week, Bresnahan said his office wants to be supportive of industries that want to invest in NEPA.
"If done right, data centers can bring family-sustaining construction jobs for local workers and help position our region for long-term economic growth," he said. "But they can never come at the expense of residents by driving up utility costs, taxes, living expenses, or by straining local water resources. Any project that expects our communities to foot the bill does not belong here."
Bresnahan said his office will continue advocating for investments that create family-sustaining careers while respecting local control in communities and of natural resources.
“Planning commissions and zoning laws exist to ensure responsible growth, placing facilities where they make sense and away from neighborhoods, schools, backyards, and residential water systems," he said.
