How municipalities across Butler County are getting ahead of data center development
As data centers take center stage in business-development conversations across the country, the Butler Eagle is taking a deep dive into the issues and questions surrounding them. This is part of a series of articles that aim to separate the facts from fiction on data centers. Throughout the series we’ll be taking a look at the environmental and economic impacts of data centers, public and government perception of the developments and the realities of their economic impact.
With data center development on the rise, municipal leaders across the county are moving quickly to get zoning regulations for future development in place.
There are over 140 data centers operating in Pennsylvania, according to datacentermap.com. While one smaller-scale center currently exists in Butler County — Iron Mountain — the possibility of a new, hyperscale center moving to the area is an ever-looming thought in the minds of municipal leaders.
Attorney Sean Gallagher with Gallagher Law Firm represents several municipalities in Butler County that have already started working on ways to have more control of data center development.
“As far as I’m aware, none of the municipalities I cover have any prospective data centers. All the work being done is to try and get regulations into place before it even comes to us,” he said.
He said conversations with municipalities regarding data centers began after rapid expansion happened in the eastern portion of the state. Concerns quickly grew about how data centers — especially hyperscale ones — will impact residents.
“When people think of data centers, they tend to think of the big ones. But they come in all different sizes and can serve different purposes. There are offices in Pittsburgh that have their own data centers in their building,” Gallagher explained.
He said when it comes to hyperscale centers, municipalities have very little say in how they use water and electricity.
“The biggest tool that municipalities have is their zoning. Having no zoning is like going upstream without a paddle. With zoning, we can have a say in where it is, how much setback it has and can do proper screening,” he said.
Without zoning regulations, he said, municipalities are stuck with focusing enforcement on the welfare of the public, such as through sound ordinances and regulating glare on roads.
Gallagher said it is important for residents to engage with their municipalities to learn what they’re doing about data centers and how they may look in their communities.
One township Gallagher Law Firm works as solicitor for is Summit Township, which started its own efforts to regulate data centers through an ordinance in May.
Supervisor Dave Barry said conversations began after hearing from other townships during the most recent Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors’ conference.
“A lot of Eastern Pennsylvania townships said they had data centers moving in and were having trouble controlling the development. We’ve had similar issues about other things, so we wanted to try being proactive,” he said.
He noted the township has not heard anything from residents about data centers or efforts to regulate them.
“Once it’s actually coming in, that’s when they come and talk. By then, it’s too late for us to do anything,” he said.
Barry said his hope is an ordinance will help ease a lot of the concerns he’s heard, including about water and electricity usage and noise pollution. He said the ordinance is drafted, but still requires approval from the planning commission and board of supervisors before it is enacted.
“I’d say it’ll be coming to us in the next month or two,” he said.
Summit Township is not the only county municipality looking to proactively put regulations into place. Others, including Jefferson, Penn, Lancaster and Forward townships, are all actively working on similar ordinances.
Center and Adams townships went as far as enacting 180-day moratoriums on data centers and related developments to give them time to draft and enact their proposed ordinances.
Lancaster Supervisor Mike Doban said he and a number of other residents began discussing data centers with the planning commission last July. While there was little movement at the time, Doban is using his position as a newly-elected supervisor to stress the issue.
“I personally use AI all the time, but I also understand that it’s not accurate probably 70% of the time. It’s about vetting and verifying,” he said.
He and other residents, he said, share concerns regarding hyperscale data centers’ usage of water and electricity — and the impacts it could cause on residents’ utility bills.
“I would still say noise is our biggest concern. There’s legislation happening in the state government, but who knows when or if that’ll actually move forward,” he said.
Doban said he is not opposed to data center development, but wants to make sure it’s done in an appropriate area and with resident protections in place.
“It’s not like this is a fairy tale. It’s happening all around us,” he said.
