Municipalities Recognizing Importance of Data Center Planning

Municipalities across Pennsylvania are being urged to put in place an ordinance regulating data center development as the number of projects being announced continues to accelerate.

Data centers are large warehouse-like buildings that house networked computers, storage systems, and computing infrastructure used to store, process, and distribute massive amounts of data. These energy-intensive centers operate 24/7 to support cloud services, AI, internet traffic, and online applications.

As AI technology continues to rapidly develop larger models capable of handling more complex tasks, so has the need for more data centers. The U.S. currently dominates the data center market and the Trump administration has made AI dominance a priority.

Data center developers are racing to find sites that can supply the needed power, water, and land, and Pennsylvania has seen rapidly rising demand due to its abundant energy supply and large amount of rural land. The state now has more than 100 data centers, and about 50 more projects have been announced.

Data centers have been proposed in some municipalities that did not have ordinances in place to regulate their siting, noise levels, energy demands, and other community-related concerns. Without a local ordinance, the community has much less say in where and how a data center can be built and operate.

Township officials are increasingly being urged by municipal and environmental groups to be proactive and put a data center ordinance in place immediately. The state House recently passed a bill directing the Center for Local Government Services to develop a model ordinance that they can use to update their local regulations. PennFuture has also developed a model ordinance for local governments and has recommended a moratorium on development while the state adopts data center regulations surrounding energy, water, noise, and pollution.

The state is working to develop such regulations, with Gov. Josh Shapiro proposing data center development standards, and the state House approving a bill directing the Public Utility Commission to develop standards.

Some local municipalities have already approved data center ordinances, and many others are now in the process of doing so to ensure that the concerns of the community are taken into consideration should any such development be proposed.