Upper Merion board denies hyperscale data center campus near King of Prussia

The Upper Merion Township Board of Supervisors has rejected a plan by developer Brian O'Neill to construct a five-building hyperscale data center campus totaling over 4.6 million square feet in Upper Merion Township, near King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The decision, met with cheers from residents, followed a contentious debate where board members accused O'Neill of "bullying" and called the applications "insufficient and lackluster."

Chairperson Tina Garzillo highlighted the absence of crucial plans, including landscape, traffic impact, emergency management, and sanitary sewer details, stating the data centers were "speculative and conceptual in nature." Despite O'Neill's projection of $55.4 million annually in local tax revenue, residents voiced significant concerns about potential air pollution from natural gas turbines and diesel backup generators, high water consumption, noise, and negative impacts on property values. A petition against the proposal garnered more than 17,000 signatures, and dozens of residents pleaded with the board to vote against the measure.

O'Neill had proposed the facility would generate its own power to alleviate grid strain and planned to use scrubbers to control emissions, with discussions underway with Bloom Energy for potential fuel cell integration. He also claimed a closed-loop system would reduce water usage. However, residents remained unconvinced, fearing the project would devastate their quality of life and financial equity.