Key Points:
- Montour County commissioners rejected a rezoning request for a data center.
- Residents feared the project would raise power bills and harm the environment.
- Talen Energy plans to revise its proposal and try again.
- Big Tech faces growing local opposition to new AI infrastructure projects.
A county commission in Pennsylvania struck a blow against Big Tech expansion on Tuesday. Officials in Montour County voted to deny a request from Talen Energy to rezone hundreds of acres of land. The energy company hoped to use the space to develop massive data centers, but local government leaders halted the plan.
The decision follows months of loud opposition from people living in the surrounding communities. Residents attended meetings to voice their concerns, arguing that the project would damage the local environment. They also feared that the massive energy demand from the servers would cause their personal electricity bills to spike.
Talen Energy is not giving up on the project yet. In a public statement, the company said it plans to keep the conversation going. “This allows us to take the time to listen, incorporate feedback from the Commissioners, engage with the community, and refine our plans,” the company stated. They aim to adjust the proposal to better reflect what the locals want.
This rejection highlights a growing problem for the technology industry. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence. To run AI, they need data centers that consume huge amounts of power. However, communities across the United States are increasingly fighting back against having these facilities in their backyards.
The blocked plan in Montour County was specifically designed to support Amazon. The goal was to build data centers right next to Talen’s natural gas power plant. This setup, known as “co-location,” allows tech companies to plug directly into a power source. Talen already uses this model with Amazon at a nuclear power plant elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
Industry analysts believe the companies will keep trying. Experts at the consultancy firm Capstone predict that Talen and Amazon will either double their efforts to win over Montour County or simply look for a different industrial site within the state to build their servers.
