Council members in a Jefferson County borough are putting a nearly six-month pause on data center development, as residents across Pennsylvania become increasingly concerned about their rapid rise and their impacts on water supplies, pollution and energy prices.
“Unofficially, we were informed that there was not one, but two data centers looking at coming into the Brookville area," said Randy Bartley, the second vice-president on Brookville’s borough council.
Bartley said those two data centers could use about 2.4 million gallons of water per day from Brookville’s water supply, which he worries would put pressure on the system.
"Our first duty is to the citizens of Brookville to be sure when they turn on the tap, they have water," Bartley said.
Last week, borough council members unanimously passed a 180-day moratorium on data center development, giving council members until sometime in December to finalize data center rules.
There is no land use ordinance in Jefferson County, so Bartley said it’s up to local municipalities to pass ordinances and zoning for data center development.
“I want to make it clear we're not opposed to the data centers," Bartley said. "You know, they're necessary. We just want to be sure if one comes into our territory, it's done correctly.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro recently introduced a set of standards for data growth development in Pennsylvania, called “GRID Standards," but developers only have to follow those standards for water use, noise and air pollution, and local energy affordability if they want tax benefits and other support from the state.
