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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Feb. 16, 2026<\/a>. It is shared here under a\u00a0Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)\u00a0license.<\/p>\n An\u00a0artificial intelligence<\/a>\u00a0data center development venture has signed a multimillion-dollar deal that will allow it to consume over 40% of a\u00a0Pennsylvania<\/a>\u00a0town\u2019s excess\u00a0water<\/a>\u00a0supply.<\/p>\n PennLive\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0on Monday that Carlisle Development Partners, a joint venture created by developers Pennsylvania Data Center Partners and PowerHouse Data Centers, had signed a $14.1 million agreement that will let it tap into the public water and sewer systems of Middlesex Township, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n According to\u00a0PennLive, the deal will formalize the 18-building data center\u2019s right to access up to 400,000 gallons of water per day, which the publication notes is \u201cequal to the consumption of 2,367 dwelling units.\u201d<\/p>\n Middlesex Township Supervisor Phil Neiderer said during a recent planning commission meeting that the big influx of revenue to the local government would more than make up for the massive amounts of water being consumed by the data center.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat that\u2019s going to do is it\u2019s going to fund a lot of projects that have already been in the books that are completely unrelated to the data center,\u201d Neiderer said, according to\u00a0PennLive.<\/p>\n In recent months, residents of Middlesex Township and Cumberland County have\u00a0raised<\/a>\u00a0concerns about not only water use but also\u00a0pollution<\/a>\u00a0and utility rates tied to the project.<\/p>\n AI data centers have become a major controversy throughout the US in recent months, as their massive energy needs have pushed up utility bills and put a strain on communities\u2019 water supplies.<\/p>\n A study\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0in the journal\u00a0Nature\u00a0Sustainability<\/a>\u00a0last year found that data centers could soon consume as much water as 10 million Americans and emit as much carbon dioxide as 10 million cars, or roughly the same amount of consumption as the entire state of New York.<\/p>\n