Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan is calling for a three-year moratorium on the development of large-scale artificial intelligence data centers in Pennsylvania amid pronounced local opposition to a bevy of data center proposals in the county and region.
Gaughan noted the local opposition and other concerns about data centers, including their considerable water and power consumption, in a letter Tuesday to Gov. Josh Shapiro, state legislative leaders and other state lawmakers urging the General Assembly to consider moratorium legislation.
It comes after Democratic state Sen. Katie Muth of Chester County circulated a co-sponsorship memo last week noting she’ll soon introduce legislation “to protect local communities from corporate exploitation by establishing a statewide three-year moratorium on hyperscale data center development.”
Gaughan, who had called earlier this month for a two-year moratorium on such development, said in his letter that Muth’s efforts “reflect a growing bipartisan and statewide recognition that this issue demands careful and immediate legislative attention.”
The pause Muth proposes and Gaughan supports would allow the state to conduct a comprehensive study of data center energy and water impacts, evaluate their environmental and land-use implications and develop “uniform standards for siting, setbacks and infrastructure mitigation,” Gaughan wrote in his letter.
It would also give state officials time to examine appropriate tax frameworks, “including whether impact fees or revenue-sharing models should be authorized to ensure host communities are fairly compensated,” and to prohibit nondisclosure agreements that “prevent local elected officials from sharing material project information with the public,” the letter notes.
Muth’s memo similarly describes the proposed three-year moratorium as “a pause to require state agencies to conduct real impact studies and put clear rules in place that are based on health and safety standards, not industry standards.”
“The moratorium would also ensure that local governments and emergency response officials have the necessary time to fully assess the impacts of data center development and to enact protections to ensure the residents all across this state are protected from corporate exploitation and industrial health harm,” she said in the memo. “Pennsylvania cannot afford to repeat past mistakes – approving large-scale industrial development first and confronting the consequences later.”
Local hotbed
Lackawanna County and the broader region have emerged as a hotbed for data center proposals over the past year-plus, with residents continuing to pack local meetings and hearings to passionately voice their opposition to, and misgivings about, the controversial developments that also promise to deliver tax revenue and jobs.
The opposition has been particularly notable in the county’s Midvalley communities targeted for data centers, including Archbald, where data centers could blanket at least 14% of the borough if all the proposals there come to fruition.
Outside Archbald, developers have active proposals to build data centers in Clifton and Covington townships, Dickson City and Jessup. Ransom Twp. recently rejected plans for a data center campus, though an appeal is likely. A developer also previously applied for but subsequently withdrew an application to build data centers in Blakely.
Gaughan himself called for a statewide moratorium at recent public hearings in Archbald and Dickson City, and at a commissioners meeting Feb. 4. Noting the significant opposition that’s emerged locally, he wrote in his letter that the “intensity and consistency of public concern have been unmistakable.”
“The opposition in Lackawanna County is not isolated or fleeting,” he wrote. “It reflects deep unease about becoming a testing ground for a development model whose long-term costs are still being understood nationwide. We owe our residents the assurance that their air, water, neighborhoods and economic future are not secondary considerations.”
Fellow Commissioner Thom Welby said he hadn’t seen Gaughan’s letter when reached early Tuesday afternoon, but reiterated that he shares concerns about the potential impact of data centers, particularly in terms of water and power consumption, and opposes them in residential areas.
Commissioner Chris Chermak, who also hadn’t seen the letter as of early Tuesday afternoon, said a potential moratorium at least warrants discussion at the state level.
“I don’t disagree with people asking about this, and I think they need to look into it,” he said. “So whether … they put the moratorium on or not, I’m not saying they should or they shouldn’t, but it’d be nice if we could all get on the same page.”
Chermak said he isn’t necessarily for or against data centers.
“I’m not against them; I’m not for them, it’s just I don’t want them in people’s backyards,” he said. “I don’t want them sucking wells dry. … The power grid has to be able to handle it all, and I’m sure there’s a place in Lackawanna County where they could actually be OK.”
Gaughan’s letter, meanwhile, requests from the governor a written response outlining his position on a “potential statewide moratorium and related legislative study.”
“Thank you for your leadership and your consideration of this urgent issue,” Gaughan wrote. “The decisions we make now will shape not only the technological infrastructure of Pennsylvania, but the character of our communities for generations to come.”