There's A Lot To Know About Data Centers

Depending on your personal news feed, you could be bombarded with warnings of the coming AI data center apocalypse. Or perhaps you’ve been convinced by political leaders echoing industry promises that PA is the perfect ground zero for the pending economic boom provided by gigantic, energy-guzzling data centers.  

Where’s the truth in all this hyperbole?  

Our regional grid operator, PJM, estimates its peak load to grow at least 20% from 2024 to 2030, with most of that growth coming from data centers.

What this could mean for us is higher energy prices, possible water supply issues, and perhaps being forced to host a data center and its attendant nuisances in our neighborhoods.

At the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Policy Committee hearing on August 11, Andrew Dehoff, the Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, said, “one of the most critical aspects of data center development–the dramatic demand for water–is often left out of the conversation despite water being our most basic human need…”

Dehoff is advocating for preventive measures in PA because he says, “I have colleagues in Atlanta and Texas and the Loudoun County, Virginia area, where these are being built, that are in full-on panic mode about how they're going to meet the water supply demands…”

Even if we manage to protect our water, land use requirements, or lack of them, may cause additional changes, challenges, and problems in our communities.

Any municipality with zoning regulations must designate at least one zoning district where any specific legal business enterprises can operate. Given the potential property tax revenue from data centers, and other economic factors, developers will find the usual support for laissez-faire zoning. Any of us could find our healthy air, peace, quiet, and viewscapes threatened by tomorrow’s huge data centers. We need local government to take our side.

Kevin Walker, CEO of Duquesne Light Company, suggests the following:

1. Promote Bring-Your-Own-Generation (with caveats based on grid capacity and integration issues).

2. Encourage Responsible Growth: Existing customers should not subsidize high power needs for data centers.

3. Welcome All-of-the-Above energy future, where we broaden our reach to sustainable energy to include wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, and battery in the longer term, while bridging the near-term gap with natural gas.

Finally, make your voice heard by letting your local and regional legislators know you want to protect your community’s resources, water, and property values.

For a deeper dive on what we’re up against, check out the links in the text and these:

Data Centers, Tax Breaks, Energy Grid

Recording of the Senate hearing

An older review of land usage and zoning rules in PA

Op-Ed by Chris Kelley of the Scranton Herald Here's a quote: 

At least 100 residents packed council chambers to hear and
jeer Marzolino’s sales pitch. About 60 more jammed into the
vestibule (which felt like a sauna and smelled like a locker
room by the end of the evening). Another 200-plus watched
online via Zoom. The venue was way too small to contain the
swelling opposition to the project.

Podcast about the use of diesel generators as backup for data centers

"The numbers behind AI's growing power draw. The hidden energy cost of being polite to a chatbot, to the efficiency breakthroughs that could slow the trend” - Open Circuit:  Aug 20, 2025

From Redefining Energy: 192. How AI will revolutionize Energy
(Gerard at EcoVadis), Aug 24, 2025
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redefining-energy/id1439197083?i=1000723377185&r=129

Trump’s High-risk, High-reward AI Action Plan,
From Columbia Energy Exchange: Aug 19, 2025
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-high-risk-high-reward-ai-action-plan/id1081481629?i=1000722681851