How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data centers
->The Conversation | More on "Data centers Pennsylvania local regulation" at BigEarthData.ai | #Data
Pennsylvania has become a hot spot for data center proposals and public backlash about where to build them. I’m a law professor and executive director of Penn State’s Center for Energy Law and Policy. I’m also a native of Archbald, a borough of 7,500 residents in the Lackawanna Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. My hometown has drawn national attention because of proposals for multiple data centers that would cover 14% of its area. Because of my professional and personal interest in data centers, I have been researching local responses to data center proposals across Pennsylvania. I’ve learned there are a host of considerations that local officials and citizens are taking into account when they evaluate data center proposals. Pros and cons of big data centers At its most basic, a data center is a building that houses and runs large computer systems. Because data centers tend to be large developments, hosting one can provide a community more tax revenue. This revenue comes from increased property tax assessments as well as newly created jobs. However, these job are mostly limited to the construction phase. One estimate suggests a moderately large data center would create about 15-30 long-term jobs. On the other hand,...
