Tracking the Data Center Industry: Insights from Southwestern Pennsylvania

​Southwestern Pennsylvania has seen a surge of data center proposals over the past year. These hyperscale projects are often sited in areas already shaped by fracked gas extraction, energy infrastructure, aging power grids, and legacy pollution. Residents in these communities frequently face limited access to clear, trustworthy project information while dealing with compressed approval timelines and technical, hard-to-navigate decision-making processes. Many are asked to weigh promised economic benefits against risks to air quality, water resources, public health, energy affordability, and long-term land use.

​In order to provide more accessible information, FracTracker Alliance worked with four Pittsburgh-based students and recent graduates as they researched 12 data center proposals across Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland, Beaver, Greene, and Indiana counties. Over the last nine weeks, the team attended public meetings, filed Right-to-Know requests, reviewed permits, researched ordinances and zoning designations, mapped potentially affected community resources and ecological sites, and spoke with residents to get their side of the story.

​Join this webinar to learn about the timelines, technical details, and next steps for major regional data center developments in Southwestern Pennsylvania, with a focus on the Homer City Energy Campus, the Springdale Data Center, the Upper Burrell Data Center, and Project Phoenix. These data centers exemplify different important aspects of data center developments that we are seeing across the country, including behind the meter power buildout, the rallying of community voices and power, the use of moratoriums to buy time to update local ordinances, and a lack of developer and local government transparency.