The report says these power plants would generate an amount of electricity equal to roughly 75% of all the power Pennsylvania used in 2024.
The report said many proposals target communities already shaped by fossil-fuel infrastructure and legacy industrial pollution.
"Residents in these communities frequently face limited access to clear, trustworthy project information while dealing with compressed approval timelines and technical, hard-to-navigate decision-making processes.
"These proposals put residents’ air quality, water resources, public health, and community future at stake."
The 12 data center proposals are located in Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland, Beaver, Greene, and Indiana counties.
The information on the data center power plants was compiled during a nine-week Data Stewardship Sprint in summer 2026.
FracTracker trained four Pittsburgh-based student interns to investigate proposed data center developments and produce information that communities could use in local decisions.
The team attended public meetings, filed Right-to-Know requests, reviewed permits, researched ordinances and zoning designations, mapped potentially affected community resources and ecological sites, and spoke with residents to get their side of the story.
Click Here for a copy of the report and detailed information on each power plant proposal.
The FracTracker Alliance supports groups across the United States, addressing pressing concerns about the health effects and exposure risks to communities from oil and gas development. Click Here to sign up for regular updates.
[Note: These power plants are being built to serve one customer-- A.I. data centers-- and will likely not participate in the PJM Interconnection wholesale electricity auctions that provide power to all the other ratepayers-- residential, small business, industrial-- and will not address the shrinking power generation capacity in the PJM system.
[In addition, A.I. data center developers, not necessarily locating in the state, are signing power deals with existing Pennsylvania nuclear power plants, hydroelectric generators, coal waste-fired and natural gas power plants to serve only data centers, taking more generation from PJM auctions and driving up prices, as identified by the PJM Market Monitor.]
(Map: The 12 A.I. data center proposals and designated DEP Environmental Justice Areas.)
Related Articles This Week:
-- FracTracker Alliance: A.I. Data Center Developers Propose 12.5 GW Of Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants To Feed 12 Data Center Projects In Southwest PA [PaEN]
-- PennLive/LehighvalleyLive: Pennsylvania Now Has 80 Sites Targeted For A.I. Data Centers Statewide; We’ve Mapped, Tracked Each One
-- Penn State Dickinson Law School Hosts Nov. 5 In-Person Symposium On A.I. Data Centers - A Problem-Solving Approach [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- WVIA Podcast: How And Why Electric, Natural Gas, Water Rates Are Increasing
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Why EQT Wants To Acquire Range Resources: Capture Growing Demand For Data Centers, Exports, Cut Operating Expenses $325 Million
-- Pittsburgh Business Times: EQT Natural Gas Driller To Acquire Range Resources In $50 Billion All Stock Deal
[Posted: October 27, 2026] PA Environment Digest
