The last time John Augustine counted there were 29 data center projects in the works in Northeast Pennsylvania.
"This is not all of the data centers being proposed … but this is the majority of them,” he said.
Augustine is president and CEO of Penn’s Northeast. The regional economic development agency held a seminar Friday called “Powering the Future Data Centers in Northeastern PA.” Representatives from across the data center and business industry and utility companies spoke on panel discussions to an audience of about 100 people at the Double Tree Hilton in Wilkes-Barre. They also discussed workforce development.
"Just a few years ago, the average household had 10 devices connected. There are 5.5 billion people online globally, and think about all the devices operating in your house,” Augustine said. “The average right now is 21, so it shows why data centers are becoming more and more crucial to our everyday living.”
The audience heard about how their communities can capitalize on the opportunities offered by the growing industry, but also about how and where they should be built.
And anyone looking to replicate Virginia's "Data Center Alley" was cautioned that what works in one locale may not work in another.
Data Centers 101
Curry Roberts from Parkway Strategies LLC, based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, joined the first panel discussion — Data Centers 101 — with Merle Madrid from Amazon Web Services.
Roberts also quoted the 21 internet-connected devices statistic. He coupled that with Artificial Intelligence.
"And you sort of understand why the growth,” he said of the data center industry. "Our digital demand just isn't convenience anymore.”
Roberts, who works in economic development in Virginia, and many of the other speakers, discussed the amount of tax revenue, cost of property and jobs that data centers have brought to the state, including in Loudoun County, which is home to 200 data centers.
But Roberts said that the infamous Data Center Alley, cannot and should not be recreated.
"You don't want to replicate Loudoun County and frankly, you can't, won't happen again,” he said. “But what you do want is decide how much of your land area do you want to dedicate to this industry, and stick to that.”
Roberts said the industry no longer wants data centers in dense areas, like Data Center Alley. He suggested developers have buffer areas of 750 feet, and urged them to look at empty legacy industrial sites, old coal-fired power plants, steel mill sites and brownfield sites.
The Pew Research Center found that 98% of Americans have smart phones, Roberts said. Then, using Netflix data, he added that Americans collectively stream 200 million hours every day on the platform.
Roberts referenced “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” In the movie from 1951, and remade in 2008, an alien freezes all electrical technology for 30 minutes.
"So what would happen if the data center industry decided, 'okay, to prove a point, we're just gonna turn everything off for 30 minutes'," he mused. "No Chick-fil-A, no ATM, no texting, no streaming Netflix and God forbid your teenagers can’t game.”
Residents across the region are demanding to know who will operate the data centers proposed in their communities and how it will impact their power, water and quality of life.
"I'm going to make an industry statement. They really don't communicate very well,” Roberts said.
Madrid, who is a senior manager for public policy with Amazon Web Services, agreed.
"As a representative of the industry, we've done a pretty lackluster job in telling the story of what these investments mean, what the opportunities are for communities, the positives, and the vacuum has been filled by speculation, misinformation, questions, and we've not stood up to answer them,” he said.
AWS' investment in Luzerne County
Amazon Web Services’ data center campus under construction in Salem Twp. is next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. With Madrid on the Data Center 101 panel, the project became somewhat of a focal point during the seminar.
He said there will be around 17 data center buildings on the campus.
"You’ve got active construction of buildings going up, land being graded next to buildings that are being powered on and starting to operate as data centers. So it's a very complex construction site,” he said.
Earlier in the seminar, Augustine said the campus has 1,100 construction workers employed.
"You're guaranteed jobs for the next 10 years at a minimum, as these facilities are built out,” he said.
Madrid also talked about the water usage at the campus.
"The Amazon data centers in Salem Twp., the ones that we want to continue to build in Pennsylvania, will use water 4% of the year for cooling … 96% of the year the only water we're using in one of those buildings is the same way we're using them in any other office, really to flush toilets and run sinks,” he said.
Andrew Dehoff from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission spoke on the Utility and Infrastructure Readiness Panel. He was joined by representatives from Comcast, PPL, UGI and Pennsylvania American Water.
He said the commission has provided a permit for AWS' Salem Twp. project.
The organization on Thursday approved Amazon's request to use 129,000 gallons of water a day.
Utilities' parameters
Power, water and construction labor are limiting factors in where data centers are built.
The data center industry is known to use large quantities of water to cool down servers. How and how much water the centers use is changing as technology advances. However, residents are concerned that data centers will drain natural resources and interrupt service at homes and businesses.
Daniel Rickard from Pennsylvania American Water said the utility has received water service inquiries from over a dozen proposed data center developments in NEPA.
He said they review every water service application request for three parameters, including the source of supply.
"So our reservoirs, streams and watersheds," he said.
Then the company looks at production capacity at its treatment plants. And finally, its distribution capacity.
For Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, the company has water rights for 125 million gallons of water a day, he said, adding the average daily demand is 50 million gallons.
He said infrastructure investments will be needed to pipe water to the data centers.
"But overall, Pennsylvania American Water is well positioned to support data center development," he said.
The industry also uses a lot of power and sites are often chosen for their proximity to high voltage power lines.
Shelby Linton-Keddie from PPL Electric said the utility is keeping three things in mind when accepting large load customers, like a data center.
"Making sure that we are keeping reliability, affordability and sustainability front and center for our customers," she said.
