Montour County’s commission rejected a request from Talen Energy to rezone hundreds of acres for a new data center, underscoring how local opposition is increasingly stalling the United States’ push to expand server warehouses.
Residents in nearby communities had voiced concerns that the project would drive up power bills and harm the environment, and the commission’s decision reflected that sentiment.
Talen Energy said it would keep pursuing the development, adding that the rejection gives it a chance to listen more closely to county leaders and the public, incorporate feedback, and adjust plans to better align with local priorities.
This episode is part of a broader pattern in which Big Tech and the power sector face pushback on data‑center projects, leading firms such as Microsoft and Meta to pull back from sites after community resistance.
The proposed center would have been co‑located near Talen’s natural‑gas plant, a model similar to an existing Amazon data center that sits close to the company’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant elsewhere in the state.
Analysts predict that Talen and Amazon may either try again in Montour County or look for alternative brownfield sites across Pennsylvania.
