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Carbon County Takes a Stand on Data Centers

  • cetherid11
  • 3 days ago
  • 2 min read

Members of Save Carbon County shared their concerns about Data Centers at the Carbon County Commissioners meeting on Thursday. They highlighted how our County is currently facing three data center proposals with a fourth under discussion. The speakers highlighted how data centers use too much land, water, and electricity, and our municipalities have limited control over their impacts. Importantly, these data centers threaten an essential resource—drinking water. Pennsylvania allows business water withdrawals of up to 100,000 gallons per day over a 30-day period or 3 million gallons per month, before a permit is required. Water withdrawals are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with no adequate assessment of the cumulative impact of 3 separate data centers on local aquifers. Drinking water is more valuable to our residents than artificial intelligence or ChatGPT, and it must be protected. Recently, an engineer for the proposed Penn Forest data center approached the Lehighton Water Authority to request the extraction of 1 - 2 million gallons of water per day! (The minutes of the Lehighton Water Authority are in the references listed below.) This persistent thirst for water is unsustainable and is especially concerning, given the droughts experienced locally over the past few years, as recorded by the Commonwealth and Delaware River Basin Commission.


The Board of Commissioners is the local government that represents the entire County, and we need their leadership on these issues. We are calling on our Commissioners to advocate for protections for our water supply and against skyrocketing electricity rates driven by data center operations. There is legislation planned in the House and Senate that deserves the

Carbon County Commissioners support. One bill will be proposed by our Senator Dave Argall to require developers to meet with local officials 30 days before submitting a data center proposal. Also, a set of six bills proposed by Senator Boscola will limit electricity rates and provide additional guardrails for data centers.


Save Carbon County President provided the Commissioners with copies of the remarks presented as well as the list of references at the end of this post. The Commissioners were engaged, asked questions about the Lehighton Water Authority, and shared the steps they are taking to empower local municipalities. The BRC13 newscast of the Commissioners meeting is available on our home page at www.savecarboncounty.com


Your voice matters - please call, email, or write your local elected officials to let them know your concerns about data centers. Don't wait - our water and our children's future is too precious to lose!


References:

PA Permit Fast Track Program. The PA Permit Fast Track Program streamlines permitting for high-impact economic development and infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania that require multiple permits from different Commonwealth agencies. https://www.pa.gov/agencies/oto/fasttrack

Computer Data Center Equipment Exemption Program. The Computer Data Center Equipment Program, authorized under Act 84 of 2016 and amended by Acts 13 of 2019 and 25 of 2021, is designed to attract new investment from businesses that own or operate within a computer data center. https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/incentives-credits-and-programs/computer-data-center-equipment-program

Pennsylvania Chapter 110 – Requirements for Water Withdrawal Registration & Reporting:

Lehighton Water Authority minutes for Wednesday, December 3, 2025 (downloads as PDF). https://www.lehightonwater.com/minutes/03Dec25.pdf


 
 
 
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