Data centers have become a political issue this election season as some residents express concerns over pending projects in multiple Bucks County towns.
As locals have protested planned or proposed data centers in Falls and West Rockhill amid national polls showing Americans taking a somewhat negative view of both data centers and artificial intelligence in general, local politicians have either shifted their messaging around projects they’ve already supported, or taken critical positions.
Data center moratoriums have become a particular focus as residents worry about power bills, noise, environmental impact, and water usage, and towns scramble to update ordinances before any proposals are filed.
Bucks County data center proposals
At the data center underway in Falls, Amazon plans to put cloud computing and AI infrastructure on the old U.S. Steel site. West Rockhill recently approved new zoning regulations after receiving a sketch plan for a data center on Cathill Road last fall.
Some residents have opposed both projects, but state law prohibits towns from banning any particular type of development, and the existing process that municipalities can use to update their ordinances, known as curative amendments, can be complicated, said West Rockhill’s solicitor, David Keightly Jr.
Curative amendments can only be done every three years, Keightly said — meaning that once a town starts the process, it may make more sense to review all of their ordinances, even if they only want to make rules for data centers. That can make the process expensive and time-consuming.
Meanwhile, new data center proposals could come in at any time, before towns have finished revising their regulations.
“If we can get something passed at the state level that gives municipalities more flexibility and more options,” Keightly said. “I think that would be a great idea.”
In addition to concerns about utility bills and noise, residents have also questioned how the data centers benefit them.
Gov. Josh Shapiro touted thousands of jobs at a press conference on the Falls project last year that the data centers would bring across the state, but also estimated in June 2025 that planned Amazon projects worth $20 billion — including the one in Falls — would create just 1,250 permanent jobs across the entire state.
Bucks County state senator floats data center moratorium proposal
Pennsylvania State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a Republican who’s running for reelection in District 16, announced in April he would introduce a bill to let towns pause data center proposals.
The moratorium bill would give municipalities the option to halt any decision on data center applications and give local officials more time to create policies for power, water, noise, and other land use issues, Coleman wrote in a memo.
Coleman circulated the memo to fellow lawmakers on April 16, but has yet to introduce the bill. He released it alongside a second memo for a bill to end a tax break on data center equipment.
Where Pa., Bucks politicians stand on data centers
Politicians who played a role in encouraging or approving projects that have since become controversial are now facing constituents who have just begun to form opinions on the rapidly developing artificial intelligence industry and data centers.
In an August press release for the Falls data center, Shapiro framed his administration’s efforts to welcome the projects as “work to speed up permitting” and “cutting red tape.”
“My Administration is proving that government can work at the speed of business,” Shapiro wrote, “ensuring the future of AI and innovation runs right through the Commonwealth.”
But more recently, Shapiro has sounded a more cautious note, describing an incentive-based regulatory approach he calls Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development standards. The approach comes with few enforcement measures, which would require approval from the legislature. The Shapiro administration has said the Falls project is already in the program.
Similarly, the Republican-driven, tax break bill that Coleman wants to repeal received bipartisan support from Bucks County-area lawmakers in 2021, including fellow state senators Frank Farry and Steve Santarsiero and Reps. Shelby Labs, Tina Davis, Perry Warren, Craig Staats and KC Tomlinson. None weighed in this week on either the repeal of the bill or the moratorium memo.
In attendance at Shapiro’s presser last year were Santarsiero, Rep. Jim Prokopiak and Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, who has said in his primary race for U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s Congressional seat that he supports Shapiro’s plan to regulate data centers, and that the county is helping towns update their ordinances.
Fitzpatrick has also spoken positively about the Falls data center. Harvie’s primary opponent, mathematician Lucia Simonelli, has called for a data center moratorium.
The Democrats on the primary ballot this month are Mark Pinsley and Bradley Merkl-Gump. The winner will face Coleman, who is running uncontested in the GOP primary. Pinsley said he’d support repealing the tax benefit if it’s not delivering “clear value” for families and taxpayers, but he’d put the money toward lowering electric bills rather than gas prices, as Coleman’s memo proposes.
Pinsley would also support a bill allowing a “short pause” on data center projects, he said. “Just long enough for counties and municipalities to work together, set the rules, and decide the right locations with clear standards on noise, water, and infrastructure.”
Merkl-Gump did not weigh in on either memo, but said towns should be protected from “corporate bullying” on data centers and that there should be “guardrails.”
