Report PA-02 · datacenterpermits.org

Three seats in one township decide more than five gigawatts.

Who approves Pennsylvania's largest data-center campuses at the local level: the boards, how many people sit on them, what they have already voted on, and what they vote on next.

Version 1.1 · Published 2026-09-15 · Revised 2026-09-19 · Rosters and votes as of 2026-09-15 · Sources pulled 2026-09-15

Summary

The state's permits get the attention, but a Pennsylvania data center is approved first by a township or borough board, usually of three to seven people, at a meeting a few dozen residents attend. This report ranks those boards by the announced capacity of the projects in front of them. One three-seat board of supervisors in Salem Township, Luzerne County, gates at least 5.4 gigawatts across an operating Amazon campus and a proposed 4,000-acre campus, plus a QTS program whose size has never been filed. It votes on the 4,000-acre campus in October. [ST] [TL3]

Two of the largest gas-powered campuses face boards that have not yet had to vote on a data center at all. Indiana County is still drafting the zoning amendment that the Homer City data center would be judged under, and Hanover Township in Washington County is in the middle of four public hearings that end on September 30. [WCCS] [OR]

9
local boards
ranked below
3
seats in Salem Township
gating 5.4 GW stated, plus an unfiled program
2
boards with votes pending
Hanover Twp hearings to 9/30; Salem Twp in October
1
approval in court
Upper Burrell, Building J, approved inside its own moratorium

What this report does and does not say

How to read this table

  1. Board. The elected or appointed body whose vote a project needs before or alongside its state permits: a board of supervisors, a borough or city council, or a planning commission.
  2. Seats. How many people vote. A three-seat board decides by two votes.
  3. GW gated. The announced capacity of every project in front of that board, added up. "Ambition" means a developer's stated build-out; "filed" means a figure in a state application.
  4. Where the vote stands. The last recorded action and the next scheduled one, with the date.
A ranking is not a judgment of any board. It states how much announced capacity each body is responsible for approving, on the date shown. Rows change when the record changes, and anyone can correct one.

Revisions

The reading

The concentration is in Salem Township. Three supervisors have already approved an Amazon campus with a nuclear power agreement of up to 1,920 MW, which is under construction, and in July 2026 unanimously approved the final master plan for a QTS campus of 12 to 17 buildings on 1,700 acres assembled from 96 landowners. [TL1] [TL2] A third proposal, called Salem 3, would assemble more than 4,000 acres from over 200 owners for a 39-building campus of 3.5 to 4 GW. The township planning commission recommended the zoning change for it by a vote of 4 to 0 with one abstention in August; the abstaining member is a landowner in the plan. One member of that planning commission also sits on the board of supervisors, which is scheduled to take the final vote in October. [TL3] [TL4] [ST]

The largest gas campuses have not been voted on yet. Homer City's 4.7 GW plant has an air permit, under appeal, but its data center has no state filing, and the county planning commission is still drafting a data-center zoning amendment; it discussed six proposed sites on September 9. [WCCS] [IC] In Hanover Township, Washington County, the board of supervisors is hearing a conditional-use application for a seven-building campus with a 350 MW gas plant; more than 200 residents attended the first hearing, and further hearings are set for September 21, 24, 29, and 30. [OR] [CBS]

One approval is in court. Upper Burrell Township placed a 180-day moratorium on new data centers in May 2026, then on August 5 approved a land-development plan for the TECfusions project's Building J, which had filed its building permits before the moratorium. An environmental group and two residents have appealed that approval to the county court. [PS] [TRIB]

One seven-member council approved 2 GW in a single January vote. Shippingport Borough approved most of the conditional-use permit for the Aligned campus on January 28, 2026; the developer broke ground on September 10. No state permit for the site has been issued. [DCD] [AL]

Table — local boards, ranked by announced capacity

A ranking is not a judgment of any board. It states how much announced capacity each body is responsible for approving, on the date shown. Rows change when the record changes, and anyone can correct one.
#BoardCountySeatsProjects it gatesGW gated (announced)Where the vote standsNext dateSourcesAs of
1Salem Township Board of Supervisorsplus a five-seat planning commission that recommends zoning changesLuzerne3Amazon Salem (A1); QTS Salem (A8); Salem 3, 4-3 Glenbrook (B29)1.92 GW Amazon; QTS not published; Salem 3 3.5 to 4 GW ambition. 5.4 GW stated, plus QTS Amazon: zoned, under construction. QTS: final master plan approved unanimously 2026-07-09. Salem 3: planning commission recommended 4-0-1 in August 2026; one commissioner abstained as a landowner in the plan; one commissioner also sits on the board of supervisors.Supervisors vote on Salem 3, October 2026[ST] [TL1] [TL2] [TL3] [TL4] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
2Indiana County Board of Commissioners and County Planning Commissionwith Center Township supervisorsIndiana3 commissionersHomer City Energy Campus (B1, B2)4.68 GW gas plant permitted; data-center capacity not published Plant air permit issued 2025-11-18 and under appeal. The data center has no state filing. County planning commission is drafting a data-center zoning amendment and reviewed six proposed sites on 2026-09-09. Commissioners issued a statement on the permit comment period in August.State water-permit hearing 2026-10-14; zoning amendment date not set[IC] [WCCS] [WDAD] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
3Hanover Township Board of Supervisorsroster not found on an official pageWashingtonnot establishedStarpointe (A20), Prime Data Centers350 MW gas plant per developer testimony; up to 3.5 GW behind-the-meter ambition Conditional-use hearing for a seven-building campus and attached gas plant opened 2026-09-01 with more than 200 residents present. Earlier press said 450 MW; the developer testified 350 MW.Hearings 2026-09-21, 09-24, 09-29, 09-30, 6 p.m., township fire hall[OR] [CBS] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
4Upper Burrell Township Board of SupervisorsWestmoreland3TECfusions Keystone Connect (A4)3 GW ambition; about 12 MW operating 180-day moratorium on new data centers, May 2026. Land-development plan for Building J approved 2026-08-05 as exempt from the moratorium. That approval is under appeal in the county court by an environmental group and two residents.Moratorium expires November 2026; appeal pending[PS] [TRIB] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
5Shippingport Borough CouncilBeaver7Aligned Project Phoenix (A6)2 GW campus per developer; 3.6 GW site power Conditional use and zoning modifications approved 2026-01-28 with two noise items held. Groundbreaking 2026-09-10. Four state applications pending, none issued.None scheduled[SB] [DCD] [AL] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
6Middlesex Township Board of SupervisorsCumberland3PAX-1 / Pennsylvania Digital I (A5)1.35 GW, stated to grow to 1.8 GW Zoning overlay under court challenge; township approvals in September 2026; an appeal by opponents is filed. The project's state air permit has not been located.Court and appeal dates not set[GT] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
7Falls Township Board of Supervisorsplus a five-seat planning commissionBucks5Amazon Falls (A2) and its Phase 2not published (under a non-disclosure agreement); 280 gas engines proposed; 4.4 million gallons a day requested Building 6 land-development plans approved March 2025. On 2026-07-27 and 28 the board declared part of its own zoning ordinance invalid and began a 180-day rewrite, while stating the Amazon project is grandfathered.Ordinance rewrite due January 2027[FT] [FTP] [LN] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
8Sharon City CouncilMercer5Keel Sharon (A19)110 MW Unanimous final approvals 2026-07-15: county land-development ordinance adopted, two final plans approved, guardrails ordinance passed, with a 70-decibel cap and no river water.None scheduled[SC] [SH] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row
9City of Lancastermayor, city council, nine-seat planning commissionLancaster9 (planning commission)216 Greenfield Road, CoreWeave tenant (A3)About 300 MW; 572 MW of diesel backup permitted Under construction; state review complete. A resident zoning appeal was filed against the determination.None scheduled[LPC] as of 2026-09-15Correct this row

Row letters A1, A8, B29 and so on refer to the project rows in Report PA-01.

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