circulated a co-sponsorship memo<\/a> last week noting she\u2019ll soon introduce legislation \u201cto protect local communities from corporate exploitation by establishing a statewide three-year moratorium on hyperscale data center development.\u201d<\/p>\nGaughan, who had called earlier this month for a two-year moratorium on such development, said in his letter that Muth\u2019s efforts \u201creflect a growing bipartisan and statewide recognition that this issue demands careful and immediate legislative attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201cuniform standards for siting, setbacks and infrastructure mitigation,\u201d Gaughan wrote in his letter.<\/p>\n
It would also give state officials time to examine appropriate tax frameworks, \u201cincluding whether impact fees or revenue-sharing models should be authorized to ensure host communities are fairly compensated,\u201d and to prohibit nondisclosure agreements that \u201cprevent local elected officials from sharing material project information with the public,\u201d the letter notes.<\/p>\n
Muth\u2019s memo similarly describes the proposed three-year moratorium as \u201ca 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d she said in the memo. \u201cPennsylvania cannot afford to repeat past mistakes \u2013 approving large-scale industrial development first and confronting the consequences later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local hotbed<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The opposition has been particularly notable in the county\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s emerged locally, he wrote in his letter that the \u201cintensity and consistency of public concern have been unmistakable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opposition in Lackawanna County is not isolated or fleeting,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow Commissioner Thom Welby said he hadn\u2019t seen Gaughan\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Chris Chermak, who also hadn\u2019t seen the letter as of early Tuesday afternoon, said a potential moratorium at least warrants discussion at the state level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t disagree with people asking about this, and I think they need to look into it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo whether \u2026 they put the moratorium on or not, I\u2019m not saying they should or they shouldn\u2019t, but it\u2019d be nice if we could all get on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chermak said he isn\u2019t necessarily for or against data centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not against them; I\u2019m not for them, it\u2019s just I don\u2019t want them in people\u2019s backyards,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want them sucking wells dry. \u2026 The power grid has to be able to handle it all, and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a place in Lackawanna County where they could actually be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaughan\u2019s letter, meanwhile, requests from the governor a written response outlining his position on a \u201cpotential statewide moratorium and related legislative study.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for your leadership and your consideration of this urgent issue,\u201d Gaughan wrote. \u201cThe decisions we make now will shape not only the technological infrastructure of Pennsylvania, but the character of our communities for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan is calling for a three-year moratorium on the development of large-scale artificial intelligence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-116410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}