Democrat’s TV ad targets data centers in drive to oust Republican from swing Pennsylvania House seat
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti's new TV ad, part of her congressional campaign, targets AI data centers, criticizing their secrecy, tax breaks, and impact on electric bills and water. The ad runs in a Pennsylvania swing district where communities are fighting data center projects. Her opponent, Rep. Rob Bresnahan, has proposed legislation to protect local zoning decisions from corporate lawsuits.
Mayor Paige Cognetti of Scranton, a Democratic candidate challenging freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan in a key Pennsylvania congressional district, has launched a new TV advertisement criticizing artificial intelligence data centers. The ad, part of Cognetti's bid to secure a seat in the U.S. House, frames data center developers as "big companies" that exploit the region's resources, similar to past industrial players, and leave behind problems. She specifically calls out the secrecy of project details, developers' reliance on tax breaks, rising electricity costs for residents, and potential environmental impacts like water pollution, advocating for "Big Tech" to pay its own way, avoid NDAs, and hire local, union labor.
The issue of data center opposition has become a significant factor in local and now congressional elections across the U.S., particularly in northeastern Pennsylvania where data center complexes and high-voltage transmission lines are planned. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, the Republican incumbent, has responded by introducing the "Local Control Protection Act." This proposed legislation aims to limit corporations' ability to sue over local zoning decisions that deny data center applications, asserting that "billion-dollar corporations" should not override community voices. The bill has not yet advanced out of committee.