State lawmakers invited stakeholders to discuss data center developments in Northeastern Pennsylvania during a public hearing in Lackawanna County Monday, and more than 300 showed up to learn more.

State Sen. Dave Argall, R-29, along with Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-40, hosted the hearing to explore the impacts data centers could have on communities where they locate, the environment and the economy.

Argall, whose district serves Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties, pointed out that he is aware of nine proposed data centers in the 29th District alone, and more proposed or being built in Brown’s.

“We’re here today to learn the facts — pro and con,” Argall said, adding this may be the first of many hearings held by the Senate Republican Policy Committee to gather information.

Argall was surprised to learn of the number of proposals in his district, mainly along the Interstate 81 corridor. He also noted that while they are proposed, the senator has been told that not all will come to fruition.

Locally, Bitfarms announced this month a partnership with T5 Data Centers to plan and develop a high-performance/artificial intelligence data center at its Panther Creek power facility in Nesquehoning.

North Point Development recently met with Packer Township officials to discuss a proposed data center within 1,000 feet of Spring Mountain Road, which intersects with Route 93 near Lake Marie in Beaver Meadows. North Point owns large plots along Spring Mountain, according to Carbon County GIS maps.

The township has no plans yet, but discussed a data center overlay district. North Point is expected to present a proposal at public meeting in Packer in October.

North Point is already planning a 15-building data center campus in the Humboldt North Industrial Park along Route 924 near Hazleton.

PPL is also upgrading its transmission lines and poles in the Carbon County, and plans to build a 240kV substation in the McAdoo Industrial Park in Banks Township and a new Tresckow-Lofty transmission line.

A short distance southwest into Schuylkill County, Amazon Data Services, which is part of Amazon Web Services, purchased 350 acres of land in Kline Township for $178,627,720. The land is bounded by Route 309, the village of Lofty, the on/off ramps of Interstate 81 at McAdoo and the village of Haddock.

Kline Township officials recently said that they have no proposals yet for the land.

One of the hearing participants was Merle Madrid, a senior manager of public policy for Amazon Web Services, or AWS, which in June announced a $20 million investment in state to expand its data center infrastructure.

Already announced are plans for Amazon data centers in Salem Township, Luzerne County, near the Susquehanna Steam Electric Plant and Falls Township in Bucks County.

“Additional Pennsylvania communities are under consideration, and we anticipate making those announcements at a later date,” Madrid said.

Amazon’s investment is expected to create at least 1,250 new high-skilled jobs, while support thousands of other jobs in the AWS data center supply chain, he said.

The company is working with the community on training for the workforce, providing scholarships, and supporting STEM education.

Madrid also testified that the company is working to reduce the impact of its data centers on the environment and community, powering them with carbon-free energy and making them more energy and water efficient.

Sen. Brown told those attending that if they use a cellphone, back up on the Cloud, scan a QR code, do a Google search, shop online or use ChatGPT, a form of artificial intelligence, they contribute to the technology need.

“I think we are all guilty of these uses,” she said.

The panelists testifying before the committee included John Augustine III, president and CEO of Penn’s Northeast, an economic development agency in NEPA.

Augustine called the emergence of data centers this region’s “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” coming after coal and iron, manufacturing and warehousing.

“Two years ago, we had one NDA (non-disclosure agreement), now we have seven and we are actively working with or are aware of at least 15 data center companies interested in NEPA,” he said, and location is driving the boom.

He also pointed out that communities with data centers benefit financially, and companies are improving the technology to reduce noise levels, use less water and be more efficient.

“Penn’s Northeast believes it is important to seize upon this once in a lifetime opportunity, but we must do it in the right way,” Augustine said.

Christine M. Martin, president of PPL Electric Utilities, told legislators that it expects remarkable growth, and anticipates summer peak energy demand of 7.5 GW will double in the next five to six years.

“We are doubling the energy demand that took more than 100 years to reach,” she said.

Data centers need reliable electricity 24/7, 365 days a year, Martin said, but noted that residential customers can benefit in lower rates with the investments in the system.

Data centers also need water to keep their systems cool and prevent servers and other equipment from overheating, speakers from the Delaware and Susquehanna river basin commissions said.

Kristen Bowman Kavanagh of the DRBC, which provides drinking water to more than 14 million people, said they are still trying to understand water demands and impacts from data centers.

One of the problems is that centers are tying into public water supplies and the water usage isn’t disclosed, she said.

Andrew Dehoff, of the SRBC, also discussed the challenges with the water supply, and encouraged companies to look for alternatives. One such is use water from the area’s coal mine and legacy mines, and incentives are available.

Among the other speakers were Abby Smith, Team Pennsylvania; Neal Lesher, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry; Jonathan Lutz, American Petroleum Institute; Patrick Henderson, Marcellus Shale Coalition; Tony Nokovich, Pennsylvania American Water; Robert Durkin, Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce; Holly Fishel, State Association of Township Supervisors; John Yudichak, Luzerne County Community College; Martin Toth, state Local Government Commission; and George Hayden, president of Hayden Power Group in Hazleton.