SWPA Residents Rage Against the Machines

Residents of Springdale, PA protesting a proposed hyperscale data center in their town. Photo: Louis B. Ruediger, TribLive

Data center projects springing up across the country have ignited citizen activism. Residents are demanding a voice in shaping how these centers – cavernous, refrigerated warehouses of computers – will shape the future of their communities.

Currently, 22 data center projects are underway in Allegheny, Beaver, Greene, Indiana, Washington and Westmoreland counties, according to the FracTracker Alliance database. A concentration has emerged around Pittsburgh, with additional proposals anticipated for Philadelphia, Scranton, Lancaster and Reading.

These neighborhoods find themselves on the front lines of a rapidly emerging, energy-hungry business that operates with limited regulatory oversight while driving up electricity demand, worsening pollution and health harms, and deepening environmental injustices for ratepayers and frontline communities.

In Homer City, plans call for what would be the largest fracked-gas power plant in the state, spanning 3,200 acres. Data centers of all sizes are extremely water-intensive and are often powered by highly polluting, fossil-fueled diesel generators, especially during periods of peak demand.

Thankfully, people are pushing back, and in large numbers, rightly concerned about increased air pollution, noise, odors and risks to water. They are showing up to municipal meetings and demanding to be heard.

Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence (AI) conferences that have been held in Pittsburgh like the one this month at the Rivers Casino, tout industry growth paired with dirty gas-powered energy. They fail to recognize frontline residents’ health or the environmental factors in their agendas. This only reinforces, once again, the region’s bad bet on fossil fuels’ that have inflicted harm on people’s health.

Residents deserve a meaningful seat at the conference table. In addition, conference organizers might consider addressing the energy alternatives available, innovations that could power data centers with cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal and hydropower.

Climate change exists.  Thousands of data centers will only exacerbate carbon emissions that the world desperately needs to reduce. Roadmaps also exists that offer plans for strategic siting, faster grid decarbonization and improved operational efficiency that can cut environmental impacts dramatically—73% for carbon and 86% for water according to a study by Cornell University.

Zoning laws, additionally, can help control where and how these facilities are built. Protect PT is developing resources to help communities develop protective ordinances.

So far, 11 states have introduced data center moratorium bills, a sign of growing recognition that hyperscale data centers need environmental guardrails to protect residents and ratepayers.

Community leaders are beginning to listen. A review of public records by Heatmap News found that 25 data center projects across the country were scrapped last year following local opposition — four times as many as in 2024. In SWPA, a collaborative organization called the SWPA Data Centers Work Group has formed to fight these plans. Residents can sign up to learn more.

The health of our planet — and the health of Pennsylvania residents — must be central considerations when planning the state’s energy future. We urge local leaders and conference organizers to prioritize to the people, the climate crisis and the alternatives available.

By Debra D. Smit, Director of Communications at the Breathe Project

##

Notes: This blog was written by Debra Smit at the Breathe Project in collaboration with Protect PT. Minor edits have been made to adjust for publication on Protect PT's website.