{"id":193415,"date":"2026-05-15T15:56:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/193415\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:56:31","slug":"what-can-be-done-about-lehigh-valley-data-centers-forum-gives-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/193415\/","title":{"rendered":"What can be done about Lehigh Valley data centers? Forum gives advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lehigh Valley residents got an opportunity to learn more about the present and future of data centers in the region thanks to the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

In a panel discussion hosted by the group at the Lehigh Valley Active Life Center in Allentown, state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, attorney Blake Marles, planner Richard Roseberry, and environmental attorney and deputy director of the Clean Air Council of Philadelphia, Kathryn Urbanowicz, discussed some of the basics of data centers and how residents can be involved in the discussion.<\/p>\n

And the topic drew plenty of attention from the public, which nearly filled the room to learn about data centers and what can be done about their development in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

Schlossberg said data centers have become a \u201chot topic\u201d in Harrisburg, especially for the Lehigh Valley and its surrounding counties. Two projects are proposed in his district, the 132nd \u2014 one in South Whitehall Township and one in Upper Macungie.<\/p>\n

Schlossberg said the state House has passed four pieces of data center-related legislation, including House Bill 1834, which would allow the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to set regulations on data centers and their energy use and associated cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably the most significant piece of legislation that we passed,\u201d Schlossberg said.<\/p>\n

Other bills would mandate that data centers report water, labor and electricity use and other metrics to state and local governments; allow local governments to stop data centers based on water usage; and create model ordinances for data center development.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouse Bill 2150, which mandates reporting to state and local governments from data centers for a variety of metrics, including water, labor, electricity and more; House Bill 2246, which allows for local governments to examine water use and potentially stop a data center if it\u2019s determined that too much water is being withdrawn; and House Bill 2151, which orders a local government commission to create model ordinances. \u201c]This is particularly useful for smaller levels of government who maybe don\u2019t have the level of expertise that larger units of government have,\u201d Schlossberg said.<\/p>\n

Those four bills have passed the state House, but have yet to be voted upon in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Schlossberg said tax incentives for data center developers would likely remain, though they could be tweaked to be \u201cmore fair\u201d for residents as they could face increasing energy costs.<\/p>\n

Questioned on moratoriums for data centers to allow legislators and the public to consider regulation, Schlossberg appeared skeptical, bluntly stating such bans on particular industries were illegal. Instead, \u201cWe just have to have conversations about where and how they go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roseberry provided insight on how sites are selected for particular data center projects, and how size and energy factor in. Data centers, Roseberry explained, aren\u2019t even new \u2014 in fact, there are plenty of small operations or \u201centerprise systems\u201d throughout the country already.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hyperscalers are the ones everybody\u2019s scared about. That\u2019s the Googles, the Amazons, the Oracles. These are very large data center complexes, not just single buildings,\u201d Roseberry said.<\/p>\n

\"Kathryn<\/p>\n

Kathryn Urbanowicz of the Clean Air Council addresses the audience at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Moderator<\/p>\n

Moderator and past president Mary Erdman addresses the audience at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Planner<\/p>\n

Planner Rick Roseberry addresses the audience at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members write down questions that were collected later in the discussion to be answered later at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen to speakers at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg addresses the audience at League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members talk among themselves at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members write down questions that were collected later in the discussion to be answered later at League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen to speakers at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen to speakers at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members write down questions that were collected later in the discussion to be answered later at League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members talk among themselves at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members write down questions that were collected later in the discussion to be answered later at League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen to speakers at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg addresses the audience at League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen to speakers at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members talk among themselves at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"League<\/p>\n

League of Women Voters of Lehigh County hosted a panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Audience members listen to speakers at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"Panelist<\/p>\n

Panelist and real estate lawyer Blake Marles addresses the audience at League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

\"League<\/p>\n

League of Women Voters of Lehigh County hosted a panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 21<\/p>\n

Kathryn Urbanowicz of the Clean Air Council addresses the audience at the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County\u2019s panel discussion on data center development in the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Allentown. (Sharon Merkel\/Special to The Morning Call)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Hyperscale data centers tend to consume substantial amounts of electricity, and demand water access for cooling. These particular concerns, along with the presence of light and noise pollution, are high priority at just about every data center discussion.<\/p>\n

But Roseberry said that some hyperscale operations are exploring their own on-site energy production, including natural gas and nuclear power, which presumably would lighten the load on local grids and prevent cost spikes. He also brought up the use of closed loop cooling systems, which are less reliant upon local water sources.<\/p>\n

Roseberry also touched upon the fact that while the Pennsylvania Planning Association has put out recommendations and guidelines for municipalities to develop regulations on data centers, each municipality is responsible for crafting their own policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real criteria here, though, is, if you\u2019re zoning, you have to create a realistic opportunity for it. You can\u2019t create a zoning district or zoning ordinance that is restrictive and makes it so that you can\u2019t put that use anywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Marles provided an explainer on how local government works with such development \u2014 \u201czoning has to do with use, land development has to do with what physically ends up on the property\u201d \u2014 noting municipalities are limited by what is laid out in their ordinances and codes, and could face lawsuits if they reject plans without a legal reason.<\/p>\n

Schlossberg added that such lawsuits can be devastating for small communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you say \u2018no\u2019 when the law is very clear but the answer is \u2018yes,\u2019 you\u2019re likely to lose a lawsuit and just tick a lot of people off anyway,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a bad situation for local government officials to potentially say \u2018no\u2019 when the law clearly says you should say \u2018yes.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Urbanowicz said Pennsylvania has become a hotbed for data center development due to a wealth of land and raw materials for energy, in addition to a political climate which is friendly to fossil fuels and fossil fuel-adjacent industries.<\/p>\n

She also addressed water usage, explaining that while closed-loop cooing systems are better overall, they are not as perfect as some developers may want the public to think.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of closed loop systems actually have a secondary cooling system that involves water. It\u2019s less water than otherwise, but it\u2019s still water that needs to go somewhere. If nothing else, it needs to be cooled, so you end up with thermal pollution,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked about the use of renewable energy to power data centers and how grid operator PJM has deprioritized their use in powering such projects, Urbanowicz said that existing fossil fuel infrastructure, slow adoption of renewables and politics all play a factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cRenewable energy, in terms of cost, is a lot lower per unit of energy than the fossil fuel energy production. PJM knows this, but it\u2019s not as fast to develop. It\u2019s not as big to develop,\u201d she said. \u201cSo the politics are really the big story here. Everybody wants to meet energy demands. The fastest way to get the most energy on the grid is to put more big fossil fuel on the grid, even if it\u2019s more expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlossberg said that one of the bills before the legislature, HB 1834, would require an increasing rate of renewable energy sources for data centers over time.<\/p>\n

Urbanowicz also pointed out that while some power plants are being replaced with more efficient models \u2014 like an old coal plant in Homer City set to be turned into a gas operation \u2014 or retrofitted, the political push for fossil fuel use could hamper cheaper solutions like renewables.<\/p>\n

Asked what the public can do to address their concerns, Urbanowicz recommended speaking with neighbors, researching specific, actionable priorities, and connecting with local government.<\/p>\n

Roseberry agreed, adding residents should focus on specific projects as opposed to a blanket rejection of data centers as a whole.<\/p>\n

Marles added citizens should \u201cread the ordinances, because if you\u2019re not directing your questions and comments to what\u2019s in the ordinance, ultimately, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlossberg rounded out the panel by advising residents to keep reaching out to elected officials on the matter, even if they may not immediately respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you come to us to inform us, to disagree with us, potentially, but to give us real information, actionable information, we very well may listen and act upon it if you can make your case, and if we agree. So please keep that in mind is, as you interact with us, we are actually most of us are here for the right reasons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Attendees appeared engaged throughout the presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was excellent. The panel had different types of expertise, their answers were very on-point, and very understandable to someone who knows nothing about AI data centers, so it was definitely worth coming to,\u201d Marie Uhern of Fogelsville said.<\/p>\n

Brian Myszkowski is a freelance writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lehigh Valley residents got an opportunity to learn more about the present and future of data centers in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,182,139,432],"class_list":["post-193415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193415","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=193415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}