Pennsylvania residents resist AI data center projects ahead of US midterms

Residents of Hazle Township in northeastern Pennsylvania rejected a plan by NorthPoint to build a massive data center for Amazon after discovering the project would include fifteen processing plants between residential areas. Authorities turned down the project following strong local pressure.

NorthPoint then offered ten thousand dollars per household and 165 million dollars for village projects and scholarships in the community of about ten thousand residents. Nate Eachus, a resident and former Kansas City Chiefs player, called the offer a bribe and said the community opposed it.

“Here this bribe attempt has not gone down well with anyone. People are smarter than they thought. We will not let them force a data center down our throats.”

In Salem Township, a four-thousand-resident community about three hours from New York, Steve and Kellie Bower are set to become millionaires by selling their home and land for a seven-figure sum to make way for an AI data center. Kellie Bower said she cries often and described their Japanese ornamental cherry tree, worth ten thousand dollars, as Steve's favorite tree.

The Bowers have lived in Salem Township for twenty-four years and recently built a large shed and small apartment behind their house to host friends and family. Those plans are now ending, and the doors will soon be barricaded while the cherry tree remains in the front yard.

Opposition to AI data centers is growing in Pennsylvania, a decisive state for the US midterm elections, with citizens complaining about high electricity costs and land loss. Protests could cost Republicans votes in a society where Republicans and Democrats rarely agree.

Approval stoppages and stricter regulation are making new data center construction much harder, which companies see as a risk to their business. The AI boom requires more and more data centers, which underpin the major economic boom of our time.