Pennsylvania farmers seek data center freeze as power line plan cuts through protected land

Some Pennsylvania farmers say the rapid buildout of data centers is putting publicly protected agricultural land at risk because of the power infrastructure those facilities require.

For them, the issue is bigger than any one project: if utilities can place major transmission lines across conserved acreage, they question what "preserved" farmland actually means.

What happened?

The Center Square reported, as shared by The Black Chronicle, that the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, which represents 24,000 members, endorsed a statewide moratorium on new data center development. Its 18-member board voted unanimously.

The outlet reported that a major focus of the debate is surrounding PPL Electric Utilities' Allenwood Transmission Project, which the company says is still being evaluated. PPL told The Center Square the plan could involve about nine miles of new 230-kilovolt transmission lines on poles roughly 140 feet tall.

According to farmers, one possible route would pass through at least six farms that were preserved under Pennsylvania's Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.

The Center Square reported that Andy Bater, an opponent to the planned routes, came to the Gregg Township meeting to testify with a map showing where farmers' frustrations are boiling over.

There, he told the board of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania that "the farmers on this map, most of them said to me, 'I have no interest in any amount of money [for] allowing transmission lines to run across my land.'"

PPL has said, as the outlet reported, it has not made a final routing decision and is taking feedback from landowners, farmers, and local officials into account. Even so, residents have been unsettled by the prospect of eminent domain, especially because the lines are viewed as serving a proposed Allenwood data center campus that PNK Group has said it plans to develop.

Why does it matter?

Opponents say the argument is not just about one transmission project. Pennsylvania regularly cites its farmland preservation effort as a leading program nationally, and The Center Square reported totals of 6,648 farms and 661,035 protected acres.

The state has spent $43 million annually on conservation easements designed to keep prime farmland intact.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau spokesperson Will Whisler told the outlet, "For us, preserved farmland is preserved farmland."

He said the situation in Union County suggests "there is no real protection for preserved farmland from transmission lines that would be put in through eminent domain."

AI infrastructure comes with significant tradeoffs, including heavy electricity demand, substantial water use for cooling, security and misuse concerns, and the risk that rapid power demand could push energy costs higher for households.

What's being done?

State lawmakers and rural advocates are weighing whether the pace of data center growth is outpacing protections for farms and communities.

The Center Square reported that Republican Sen. Gene Yaw, who chairs the Center for Rural Pennsylvania's board, told farmers he could not remember PPL using eminent domain in his district and said the utility mentioned it because it was required to.

PPL told The Center Square that it recognizes the importance of farmland preservation and is reviewing agricultural effects alongside environmental, engineering, public safety, and feasibility concerns before selecting any route.

Terry Snoddy, who owns or operates two farms in the region, called the proposed line the data center's "own personal extension cord."

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