Pennsylvania towns use local zoning to fight data center noise, heat, and utility costs
Pennsylvania towns like Hampden Township are using zoning authority to resist data center development, but state law limits their options and the Trump administration's deregulatory push threatens to erase even these defensive tools.
In Hampden Township, Cumberland County, commissioners voted 5-0 in September 2025 to deny a zoning amendment that would have allowed data centers in Industrial and Office Park districts—a clear defensive win driven by public opposition. The vote did not create new restrictions; state law prohibits outright bans, leaving towns only the option to say no to specific zoning changes. As Inside Climate News reported, residents opposed the projects due to noise, water use, and utility costs, concerns that mirror the national pattern of data centers externalizing costs onto working families. A developer, Envision Land Use, acknowledged after a subsequent rejection in February 2026 that the community's message was clear: they don't want it. But these localized fights are happening in a vacuum of federal and state policy. The Trump administration's deregulatory posture—including expedited permitting and preemption efforts—threatens to strip towns of even this defensive zoning tool. If communities lose the ability to block or condition data centers, they lose the only mechanism to prevent noise, heat, and water overconsumption from becoming neighborhood blights. Environmental justice demands that low-income and rural areas, which already bear disproportionate pollution burdens, retain a voice in decisions that shape their air, water, and electricity bills.
The humanitarian alternative
Rather than gutting local authority, Congress and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should set minimum national standards for data center noise, waste heat recovery, and grid-cost allocation, while preserving local zoning discretion. A federal-state compact could require data centers to disclose projected utility cost impacts to ratepayers before permits are issued, mandate waste-heat capture for district heating where feasible, and fund community benefit agreements like those tied to the Ohio federal land lease. This would allow AI infrastructure to scale without offloading its costs onto vulnerable households.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- Pennsylvania will face a state preemption challenge—either through legislation or litigation—that would delimit local authority to restrict data center siting within the next 12 months.
- At least two more Pennsylvania towns will adopt data center zoning ordinances similar to Butler or Hampden townships within the next 6 months.
Grounded in
- How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat ...
- Ordinance 2025-01 - SALDO Data Centers - Susquehanna County
- How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat ...
- PDF April 2026 Data Center - files.dep.state.pa.us
- Pennsylvania data centers face community opposition
- Pennsylvania Community Groups Urge Officials to Restrict Data Center ...
Original source — excerpted
news How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data centers"Pennsylvania has become a hot spot for data center proposals and public backlash about where to build them. I’m a law professor and executive director of Pen..."