State Sen. Jarrett Coleman says he want to repeal tax breaks that he says are responsible for luring data centers to Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Coleman, R-Lehigh,\u00a0held a telephone town hall meeting Wednesday night addressing constituent concerns about data centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone seems to be scared to talk about it,\u201d Coleman said during the hourlong meeting, which drew several dozen callers. \u201cI think we have to talk about it, because I need to know what you think. To my knowledge, this is the first town hall that\u2019s focused on data centers, which is crazy considering how much of a concern these things have been.\u201d<\/p>\n
While conceding that data centers are a part of life \u2014 noting that the average household has 21 devices connected to the internet \u2014 Coleman said the downside of the huge buildings include electric usage, water consumption, noise pollution and whether they are good fits in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that do to the water? What does it do to groundwater? What is the byproduct of these places?\u201d Coleman said. \u201cThose are all questions I think you all deserve answers to.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 16th District, which is split between Lehigh and Bucks counties, has data center proposals at the former Air Products headquarters site in Upper Macungie Township<\/a> and across the street from Parkland High School in South Whitehall Township<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both projects have drawn strong pushback from the public.<\/p>\n Coleman said a reason why Pennsylvania has more than 100 data centers, and 50 more on the drawing board, is a measure passed in 2021<\/a> exempting computer data center equipment from state sales and use tax.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state gave them a huge tax incentive to locate here and it will cost us about $188 million in revenue this year and about $2 billion cumulatively through 2031<\/a>,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cWe understand the governor [Josh Shapiro] wants the data centers. We\u2019ve got to make sure that this is right for our community. In some communities, it\u2019s not going to be a good fit.\u201d<\/p>\n Coleman said he would like to repeal the tax breaks and use any future revenue to offset the gas tax.<\/p>\n Among the concerns raised by participants on the call:<\/p>\n \u2022 Katie from Upper Milford Township, who said she\u2019s an electrical engineer, feared that data centers could \u201cblack out grids overnight\u201d and said skyrocketing energy bills could force people out of their homes. She was also concerned about potential emissions from the South Whitehall plant and how they may affect the health of Parkland students.<\/p>\n