Data center development is seriously heating up in Pennsylvania, and it’s sparking debate. Proponents say they’ll bring jobs and tax revenue, while critics are worried about energy and water use.
Technical.ly reporter Alice Crow joined City Cast Pittsburgh host Megan Harris to break it all down.
“For a lot of communities, this is the first time that they’re ever hearing about a data center,” Crow said. “In the last couple of years, and in 2025 specifically, data centers really exploded in the public consciousness.”
Data center energy use in PA is expected to grow 10x over the next half decade.
Last year, federal and state officials touted $90 billion in investments in PA related to the infrastructure projects, alongside several other energy and AI initiatives.
More than 100 data centers are already in operation across Pennsylvania, but there are dozens more in planning — much bigger ones. Data center energy use in the state is expected to grow 10x over the next half decade, according to US Dept. of Energy projections.
Energy is part of what makes Pennsylvania attractive for data center developers. The state has strong natural gas reserves and nuclear plants, plus plenty of abandoned industrial sites. It’s just the right setup to build them.
Keep reading for more on what data centers are, why they matter and the trade-offs communities face. For a deeper dive, listen to Technical.ly and City Cast’s full episode on data centers here.
Data centers aren’t just for AI, but that’s why demand is spiking
A data center is a physical space — a room, a building or a multi-building complex — housing many, many, networked tiny computers that store and process data. They’re the physical manifestation of “the cloud.”
Every time you search Google, stream a Netflix movie, send an email or, yes, query a chatbot like ChatGPT, you’re relying on one of these facilities, Crow explained.
The recent AI boom has dramatically increased demand for “hyperscale” data centers, or massive versions of these facilities built to handle unprecedented amounts of computing power (often referred to as “compute”).
There are two reasons Big Tech companies are rapidly expanding this infrastructure. The first is to train new models. That doesn’t really have to do with everyday use — it’s just to stay ahead of the competition — but the second reason does. When AI needs recent information to create an answer, it has to search across huge swaths of the internet in a relatively short time.
“One of the defining features [of AI] is that, especially with large language models, they have to be able to access tons of data to be able to have the output that they do,” Crow told City Cast host Harris.
Water, noise and energy use
Data centers operate 24/7, powering servers and maintaining backup systems to avoid any blips in service. A US Dept. of Energy report found that in 2024, data centers consumed at least 4% of the nation’s electricity. That’s projected to rise to 7% to 12% by 2028.
Most Pennsylvania facilities rely on natural gas. Water for cooling servers must be chemically treated and can’t easily be reused, Crow said. Both of these factors have raised environmental concerns.
It can also impact electricity bills. Hyperscale facilities, like the ones tech giants say they need to advance AI, increase energy demand. They often require costly grid upgrades, and utilities have traditionally spread those costs across customers.
To mitigate this, PA legislators are pushing data centers to create their own energy instead of relying on the grid, Crow said. In other states like Ohio, utility commissions are requiring data centers to pay for energy use in advance, to help fund the expected infrastructure buildout.
Plus, large data centers can be loud, Crow added, with residents living nearby often reporting noise pollution.
Some economic benefits are real, but long-term job creation is low
Pennsylvania attracts data centers due to natural gas reserves and a plethora of old industrial sites. The facilities offer economic benefits — construction jobs, property tax revenue and positive ripple effects on local businesses — but long-term employment is usually small, according to Crow.
In some regions where local economies rely heavily on the energy sector, data centers are a welcome addition. That’s why Gov. Josh Shapiro recently announced criteria for data centers to qualify for fast permitting and tax benefits.
Local councils are also monitoring land sales and tweaking zoning laws to address these developments.
“As long as we have digital lives, data centers will exist,” Crow said, “and so as our digital footprint increases, I think the demand for data centers will continue.”
