{"id":309626,"date":"2026-10-19T04:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/309626\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T04:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T04:02:11","slug":"i-call-it-a-bribe-pennsylvania-residents-spurn-10000-data-center-checks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/309626\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I call it a bribe’: Pennsylvania residents spurn $10,000 data center checks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Ed Negra, a resident of the Eagle Rock Resort community, opposes to the proposed data center development near his home in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania (Matthew Hatcher) <\/p>\n

On his terrace overlooking the forest in eastern Pennsylvania, Ed Negra lays out four letters. All are from a developer promising a $10,000 check to each household once its data center is running. <\/p>\n

“I call it a bribe,” says the American retiree. <\/p>\n

The scene is picture-perfect. Autumn leaves are turning russet, and there is a stunning mountain view in this corner of Pennsylvania, a key state in America’s upcoming midterm elections. <\/p>\n

“We thought it was a beautiful place to retire,” says the septuagenarian, who used to manage a large building-supply store in neighboring New Jersey. <\/p>\n

He and his wife settled in a sprawling gated community with round-the-clock security. <\/p>\n

Eagle Rock Resort, in Hazle Township, has hundreds of comfortable homes scattered through the woods, two golf courses, swimming pools, an equestrian center and even a few ski slopes for the winter. <\/p>\n

“We didn’t know until we heard all the noise” of chainsaws in late 2024, Negra recalls. <\/p>\n

More than 1,200 acres (500 hectares) of land below the resort were cleared to build the future server complex. <\/p>\n

Residents quickly mobilized. They were furious that no one had warned them, and they worried about noise and pollution. <\/p>\n

Their fight echoes many conflicts across the United States over data centers, which have become an issue in the November 3 vote. <\/p>\n

Local opposition blocked or delayed at least 75 data center projects in the first three months of 2026, according to Data Center Watch, which tracks resistance to the industry. <\/p>\n

And polls show that the hostility crosses party lines. <\/p>\n

But Republican President Donald Trump fervently backs these projects in the name of US dominance in artificial intelligence, and he chastises those who oppose them. <\/p>\n

– ‘Drop in the bucket’ – <\/p>\n

In Hazle Township, residents won a court-ordered halt to construction as well as a municipal moratorium. <\/p>\n

A few pieces of heavy equipment sit idle on the vast cleared tract. The logs have already been hauled away. <\/p>\n

But developer NorthPoint Development has not given up. <\/p>\n

Its letters now flood local mailboxes, saying “there is a lot of misinformation and fear that has circulated about data centers and our project.” <\/p>\n

The letters also lay out a $165 million fund for the township and its residents. <\/p>\n

The money would pay for a new police station, lower trash fees and more. <\/p>\n

Part of it, $45 million, is to be paid directly to the 4,500 households once the data center’s first building goes into service. <\/p>\n

In the former mining town, one in six residents lives below the poverty line, according to official data. <\/p>\n

“For a young, struggling couple… living from paycheck to paycheck, $10,000 is a lot of money,” says Jeff Fasnacht, a retired high school teacher who lives in the gated community. <\/p>\n

Like Negra, he sees the offer as a bribe. He also calls it “a drop in the bucket” compared with how much value his home could lose if the project goes ahead. <\/p>\n

“This was supposed to be pristine forest forever,” sighs the golf enthusiast. <\/p>\n

Neither the developer nor township officials responded to AFP’s requests for comment. <\/p>\n

– ‘David and Goliath’ – <\/p>\n

Across the valley, residents of rural Sugarloaf Township are fighting a high-voltage power line that is likely intended to supply the data center. <\/p>\n

They are not eligible for the possible $10,000 check. <\/p>\n

“There’s no amount of money that can replace or take away the beauty, the tranquility that we live in,” says Annie Vinatieri. She shares a house with her in-laws, her husband and their young son. <\/p>\n

She has been fighting the power line for almost two years. <\/p>\n

“This fight feels akin to a David and Goliath fight,” she says. She takes heart in how many residents have rallied against tech interests: “The empowerment is unbelievable.” <\/p>\n

Erika Cook, 42, lives nearby and works remotely for an insurance company. <\/p>\n

She and her husband raise a few chickens and keep a vegetable garden. They also tap maple trees for syrup in the woods on their property. <\/p>\n

Part of that land is now the target of an eminent domain proceeding to make room for a huge transmission tower. <\/p>\n

Republicans dominate at the ballot box in this region. Cook says opposition to data centers has one virtue here: “It’s bringing people together… across party lines.” <\/p>\n

myl\/arp\/pnb <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Negra, a resident of the Eagle Rock Resort community, opposes to the proposed data center development near…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[125981,60,26943,61,2265,40186,8128,125982,3777,31858,12452,125983,28,30,29,12449,105122,1081,7174,34958,45357,45358,88052,125984,2261,125985],"class_list":["post-309626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-401k","tag-business","tag-business-news","tag-economy","tag-finance","tag-financial-information","tag-investing","tag-investment-tools","tag-investor","tag-market-news","tag-mortgage","tag-mutual-funds","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-personal-finance","tag-quote","tag-real-estate","tag-retirement","tag-stock","tag-stock-research","tag-stock-valuation","tag-stocks","tag-suze-orman","tag-tax","tag-track-portfolio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309626","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=309626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}