NEPA municipalities can set boundaries on data centers

In a conference organized by Penn's Northeast, experts discussed how municipalities in Northeast Pennsylvania can proactively manage the growth of data centers in the region. John Augustine, president of Penn's Northeast, displayed a map showing 29 locations in the region where developers want to open data centers. While not all of these may be built, data centers still present a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity for the area. Speakers like Curry Roberts, a consultant from Virginia, shared lessons learned from the rapid data center development in Loudoun County. Roberts recommended that Pennsylvania communities restrict data centers to specific zones of at least 100 acres, and keep them 750 feet from residential areas. Rock Stahovic of Barry Isett and Associates advised municipalities to be proactive in zoning and adopting regulations around noise, environmental impact, and traffic. George Stark of the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Institute noted that zoning doesn't mean endorsing data centers - each project still needs to meet the community's standards. Amazon Web Services, which is building a data center campus in Salem Township, committed to working with Governor Josh Shapiro's principles for responsible data center development. The article also discussed the potential economic benefits, including $112 million in new taxes for Luzerne County, as well as workforce development initiatives at Luzerne County Community College.