Pennsylvania town unites against proposed data centers despite $17 million promise

A proposed $17 million community-benefits package is failing to persuade everyone in one Pennsylvania town.

In Archbald, a borough near Scranton, public meetings are drawing large crowds and shaping new alliances as developers seek approval for six data center campuses that could impact the area.

What's happening?

According to National Public Radio, Archbald has more proposed data center campuses than any other municipality in Pennsylvania.

That concentration of projects has sparked local backlash, bringing together residents from different generations and political viewpoints.

NPR reported that the borough could eventually contain "50 data centers the size of Walmarts."

Resident Madonna Munley, a retired teacher and fifth-generation local, said the movement against data centers is centered on "the safety, the welfare, and the health of the town."

Munley is organizing alongside resident Tammy Misewicz-Healey, who helps run the Stop Archbald Data Centers group with her husband.

Misewicz-Healey said the concern goes beyond any single development site.

"Basically, what they want to do is line all mountain ranges with data centers," she told NPR. "And then if they could find land within the valley, they'll even put it there."

At one public meeting, hundreds of people pushed back against a developer's offer of $17 million in community benefits if Archbald agreed to host the campus.

Why does it matter?

Data centers are becoming a flashpoint in communities across the country, where some believe they may bring economic benefits and some believe they may raise environmental and infrastructure concerns.

Residents in Archbald are worried about health, land use, water consumption, and whether large industrial facilities could permanently alter the character of their town. The issue is also tied directly to artificial intelligence and the power grid.

The data centers that power AI can require enormous amounts of electricity and vast quantities of water for cooling, increasing demand for new poles, wires, substations, transformers, and water supplies. That growth can also raise concerns about higher utility bills, security, misuse, and other unintended consequences if infrastructure fails to keep pace.

JoyAnna Hopper, an associate professor of political science at the University of Scranton, said the dispute has created rare civic alignment among residents who may not normally organize together.

"In this case, it's, you know, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, people who would not think of themselves as being political at all, all sitting in the same room wanting the same thing," Hopper said.

What's being done?

Stop Archbald Data Centers has become a hub for opposition in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the group's yellow anti-data-center shirts have become a familiar sight at hearings and public meetings.

Misewicz-Healey said the organizing effort is already creating ripple effects.

"You know, people say, if you guys didn't speak up, like, this would've just been pushed through in all of our towns," she told NPR.

Other Pennsylvania communities have also seen some success.

Colby Wesner, a member of Concerned Citizens of Montour County, said his group helped stop zoning for a data center roughly 83 miles from Archbald, according to NPR.

"It doesn't matter right now. We are lock in step on working together on this issue, and it's a pretty beautiful phenomenon, I'd say," Wesner said.

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