PPL land deal in Archbald, Upvalley paves way for massive data center power plants
A joint venture between PPL Corp. and Blackstone Infrastructure has secured over 7,000 acres in northern Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, to explore building two massive natural gas power plants for data centers. The plan has drawn significant opposition from local officials and residents concerned about environmental impact and overdevelopment. While the venture states plans are preliminary, it has filed interconnection requests for the power plants.
PPL Corp. and its joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure, Invitium Energy LLC, have acquired rights to purchase nearly 7,200 acres across Archbald, Carbondale, Carbondale Township, Fell Township, and Mayfield in northern Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. The venture intends to explore building at least two natural gas power plants totaling 2.25 gigawatts to power future data centers in the region, with interconnection requests already filed with PJM.
The land acquisition, which includes properties near the Brownell Reservoir, a public drinking water source, has provoked strong backlash. Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan expressed fury, stating the county should not be a "sacrificial lamb of the AI revolution." Tamara Misewicz-Healey, co-founder of the "Stop Archbald Data Centers" movement, described the situation as "absolute insanity" and urged residents to pressure elected officials to intervene, citing environmental concerns like pollution concentration due to local topography.
PPL Corp. spokesman Ryan Hill confirmed the land rights were secured to evaluate suitability for power generation for data centers but emphasized that plans are very preliminary, and no agreements with data center developers or applications to local municipalities have been submitted. He stated the venture's commitment to transparent engagement if a project moves forward, despite declining to comment on specific locations for the power plants.
Environmental advocates, like Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter Director Tom Schuster, expressed concern over the concentration of power plants and their environmental impact, including promoting more natural gas fracking. State Rep. Kyle Mullins pledged to monitor filings for transparency, acknowledging the widespread community concern due to "relentless saturation of speculative data center development" in the region. Governor Josh Shapiro has been called upon by Commissioner Gaughan to protect the area, referencing Shapiro's recent strengthening of Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) standards for data centers.