Data center developers are facing pushback at the municipal level across Pennsylvania, but one local government in Luzerne County is singing a different tune.
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The Salem Township Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to nearly triple its data center overlay district to almost 5,000 acres. The move was hailed in a press release by 4-3 Glennbrook Group, which has assembled 194 families that own land in the district.
The group now plans to secure the remaining required approvals for a data center development called the Salem 3 Campus, and it is looking to sell the land for $1.4B to a developer.
Tuesday’s vote came after 4-3 Glennbrook Group sold the neighboring Salem 2 land assembly to Blackstone’s QTS Data Centers for $586M this spring.
This week's meeting on the Salem 3 site was dominated by supporters of the project, many of whom wore matching orange shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Data Center Yes!,” the Times Leader reported.
The landowner group has proposed a $43M community benefits agreement including $12M for the construction of a microhospital. The township has had limited access to medical care since the Berwick Hospital Center closed in 2022.
"These families made a big decision about their land, and they made it with their kids and grandkids in mind," 4-3 Glennbrook Group principal Mike Cabell said in a statement
"Tonight's vote shows that decision was worth it. They stuck with this through every meeting and every question, and we're going to get this done for them in a way that benefits the community for generations.”
Salem Township is home to a nuclear power plant, a natural gas generation facility and extensive electrical infrastructure, which make it a strong location for data center facilities, the press release said.
Data centers have increasingly become a political football in Pennsylvania.
Gov. Josh Shapiro initially threw his support behind the industry, but he penned a restrictive executive order in August. It requires operators to pay for their own power and makes local approval a prerequisite to getting the state’s blessing.
The press release from 4-3 Glennbrook Group says the Salem 3 plan complies with the executive order.
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