PA residents push back against AI data centers in Lancaster

Pennsylvania is home to 102 data centers.

Frank Arcoleo, a member-leader of the group Lancaster Stands Up, said the new data centers were approved after city officials quietly classified them as warehouses, allowing the projects to move forward without scrutiny. He argued the facilities will bring little local benefit, noting data centers create very few employment opportunities.

“Most of the jobs that a data center creates are temporary construction jobs,” Arcoleo pointed out. “There are very few permanent jobs. They keep changing the number depending on what they’re trying to do, but it’s somewhere between 75 and 100 jobs per site.”

Arcoleo noted community members in Lancaster were shut out of the approval process for the two proposed data centers. He added he appealed the zoning officer’s decision not to classify the facilities as data centers. But days before the hearing, the developers sued, arguing the decision could not be appealed. The challenge has been tied up in Pennsylvania courts since September, with a ruling expected next month.

Arcoleo stressed data centers also often drive up electricity costs, warning communities across the nation have seen rate hikes after these facilities move in. He is working with EarthJustice, a nonprofit legal group, on a proposal for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. They are developing a large-load tariff, which would require utilities to sign standard contracts with major power users like data centers.

“Our Public Utility Commission realizes that it’s not fair to bring in data centers and to have them offload costs, whether they’re grid construction costs or demand capacity costs, all these costs on to normal rate payers,” Arcoleo explained.

He observed the surge in power demand from data centers will keep coal and diesel-fired plants running longer than planned, delaying the shift to cleaner energy.

Arcoleo said Lancaster officials have negotiated a Community Benefits Agreement with the developers of the data centers, a deal he added is essentially an effort to limit the potential harms the facilities could bring to the community. He said the agreement would require the developers to contribute $10 million to economic development, sustainability and clean energy for each site.

“It also gets a commitment from the developers to spend some money supporting important things within the city of Lancaster,” Arcoleo underscored. “That includes sustainability efforts, efforts to improve energy efficiency, and it goes to the business community.”

Construction has already begun on the first site, even though his appeal is still pending, which Arcoelo argued should not have been approved in the first place. He noted the construction permit for the first phase of the first data center cost $7.8 million. The fee is a one-time payment per permit, not a recurring charge. He anticipates more permits will need to be approved for the first and second phases of each project.

Related: Data centers drive up electric costs around Central Pennsylvania