In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - September 21

Here are Articles and NewsClips on A.I. and data center issues from last week you may have missed--

-- In Case You Missed It: A.I./Data Center Articles - NewClips From Last Week - September 21

Energy Costs

-- Report: Winter Heating Oil Costs Expected To Increase Over 31%, Electric By 9%, Natural Gas By 5.8%  [PaEN] 

-- PPL Electric Files Proposal With PUC To Make Electric Transmission Costs More Transparent, Establishes New Way To Assign Costs Incurred For Data Centers To Those Customers  [PaEN] 

Grid

-- PUC Study Warns Rapid Data Center Growth Will Cause PJM Electric Grid To Fail Reliability Standard In 2027, If No Further Actions Taken  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Interconnection Issues Maximum Generation, Load Management Alerts For Sept. 17 For Entire Service Area Due To Hot Weather, 35,000 MW Of Maintenance Outages; Requested DOE Emergency Order  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Interconnection Maximum Generation Alert Remains In Effect For Sept. 18; Emergency Demand Response Customers Activated On Sept. 17 To Increase Reserve Generation Because More Generation Went Offline  [PaEN] 

-- Natural Resources Defense Council Blog: PJM Interconnection Sets A.I. Data Center Rules, Now States Must Protect Ratepayers

-- Utility Dive: PA PUC Report: PJM Faces 2030 Reliability Crisis If Data Center Load Growth Continues; PJM Agrees Demand Growing Faster Than The Ability To Build New Power Sources

-- PA Capital-Star: PUC Study Warns Of Electricity Shortages Unless Supply Keeps Pace With A.I. Data Center Growth

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: PUC Report Warns Of More Power Outages As A.I. Data Centers Surge In Pennsylvania 

-- WHYY - Sophia Schmidt: A.I. Data Center Growth Could Mean Blackouts In Coming Year, PA PUC Report Says

-- The Center Square: PUC Warns A.I. Data Center Demand Threatens Electricity Grid Reliability

-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: Federal Energy Officials Praise Duquesne Light Efforts To Make Electric Grid More Resilient

Generation

-- PJM Interconnection Issues Maximum Generation, Load Management Alerts For Sept. 17 For Entire Service Area Due To Hot Weather, 35,000 MW Of Maintenance Outages; Requested DOE Emergency Order  [PaEN] 

-- PJM Interconnection Maximum Generation Alert Remains In Effect For Sept. 18; Emergency Demand Response Customers Activated On Sept. 17 To Increase Reserve Generation Because More Generation Went Offline  [PaEN] 

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: 10 New Natural Gas Data Center Power Plants Projects Are Proposed In Southwest PA That Could Double PA’s Power Capacity, Will They Happen? 

-- DEP Issues Section 401 Water Quality Certification For Restart Of Constellation Energy Three Mile Island Data Center Nuclear Power Plant In Dauphin County  [PaEN] 

-- Observer-Reporter: Hundreds Turn Out For NextEra Energy Open House On Fayette County 3.75 GW Data Center Natural Gas Power Plant 

-- WTAE: Fayette County Natural Gas Data Center Power Plant Project Divides Community Over Jobs, Environmental Concerns At NextEra Energy Open House  

-- Tri-State Alert:  PA Senate Republican Leader: Legislature Needs To Pick Up Slack From Prior Governors And Boost Energy Production [Nothing About Pausing Data Center Development Causing Spike In Demand] 

-- PA House Republican Policy Committee Hearing: ‘Unleash’ Pennsylvania Natural Gas To Lower Costs, Strengthen Reliability  [Nothing About Pausing Data Center Development Causing Spike In Demand] 

Legislation

-- TribLive/AP: US House Passes Bill Recommending A.I. Data Centers Pay For Energy Needs, But States Aren’t Required To Protect Ratepayers 

Land Use

-- Scranton Times: 22 Regional A.I. Data Center Projects And Where They Stand In NE PA

-- Scranton Times: Archbald Boro Residents Fear Giant Data Center Next Door: ‘Where Do You Go?’  

-- Scranton Times: Shapiro Cites Archbald Boro In The Need For More Local Control Over A.I. Data Centers; Reviews His Recent Executive Order

-- Scranton Times Chris Kelly Opinion: It’s All Over But The Voting For Wildcat Ridge A.I. Data Center Proposal 

-- Scranton Times: Archbald Boro To Continue Hearings On Project Green Mountain A.I. Data Center Complex On Sept. 30 

-- The Citizens’ Voice: Newport Twp. In Luzerne County Issues Zoning Permits For 15 A.I. Data Centers, 3 Natural Gas Power Plants; Township Officials Declined To Reveal Many Details Because Landowner Is Still Negotiating With Developer

-- WNEP: Residents Voice Concerns After Zoning Permits Issued For 15 A.I. Data Centers/3 Natural Gas Power Plants  In Newport Twp., Luzerne County [Residents Didn’t Know]

-- Scranton Times: Plains Twp. To Host Sept. 22 Hearing On A.I. Data Center Zoning Map Changes To Accommodate Data Centers In Luzerne County

-- Morning Call: Lower Mount Bethel Twp. Passes A.I. Data Center Ordinance In Northampton County 

-- KYW: Proposed A.I. Data Center In South Whitehall Twp., Lehigh County Faces Community Backlash: ‘We’re Here For The Long Fight’ 

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill County Commissioners Defend Early Nondisclosure Agreement With Amazon Data Center Developer 

-- Reading Eagle: New Morgan Boro Approves Zoning Changes To Allow Data Centers Over Objections Of Area Residents In Berks County

-- Inquirer: A.I. Data Center Developer Sues Upper Merion Twp. Over Rejected Data Center Proposals In Montgomery County

-- WHYY: Philadelphia Activists Urge City Council To Pass A Data Center Moratorium 

-- WHYY -  Zoe Read: Environmentalists Call Philly Mayor’s A.I. Data Center Task Force Insufficient, Demand Immediate Moratorium

-- PennLive Guest Essay: No Dollar Amount From A.I. Data Center Developer Is Worth A Lifetime Of Noise And Risk In Gregg Township, Union County - By Summer Gelnett, Unite Against Data Centers

-- WITF: $10.5 Billion A.I. Data Center Complex Proposed For 157 Acres In Swatara Twp., Dauphin County 

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: County Judge Hears Arguments Over PAX-1 A.I. Data Center Project In Middlesex Twp., Cumberland County

-- Salena Zito’s Middle Of Somewhere Dispatches: Shippingport’s Aligned Data Center/Natural Gas Power Plant Complex Rises In The Age Of A.I. Anxiety  

-- TribLive: Allegheny County Council Committee Votes To Advance Ban On Large-Scale Data Centers On County Property

-- TribLive: Upper Burrell Planning Commission Delays Recommendation On A.I. Data Center Ordinance Following Resident Concerns In Westmoreland County

-- TribLive: South Huntingdon Twp. OKs A.I. Data Center Regulations Amid Opposition To Facilities In Westmoreland County  

-- Observer-Reporter: Springhill Township Adopts A.I. Data Center, Fossil Fuel Power Generation Ordinances In Fayette County

-- Pittsburgh Media Partnership: Pennsylvania A.I. Data Center Proposals Map

Opposition

-- TribLive Guest Essay: A.I. Data Centers Are Not Inevitable - By Joan Mukogosi, Data & Society Research Institute and an author of the forthcoming “The AI Factory: Data Centers, Power, and Resistance in Late Industrial Pennsylvania” 

-- The Center Square: PA State Senator Art Haywood Focuses On A.I. ‘Threat To Humanity’ As A.I. Data Center Fights Continue In Cumberland County, Elsewhere

-- Centre Daily Times: Climate Watch - Growing Opposition To A.I. Data Centers In Pennsylvania 

-- Republican Herald: Merits Of A.I. Data Center Development Presented By Chamber, Amazon In Schuylkill County; It Will Take 85% More Data Center Development To Meet Need For Information Processing

-- Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader Guest Essay: Pennsylvania’s Communities And Business Share A Destiny - Let’s Strengthen It - By Tom Wyatt, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel  [Data Centers]

Impacts

-- Scranton Times: Lackawanna County Commissioners OK Contract For A.I. Data Center Health Impact Study: ‘Facts, Science, Evidence’

-- Scranton Times Chris Kelly Opinion: Lackawanna County Commissioners Approve Timely Study Of Invasive A.I. Hyperscale Data Centers

-- Capital & Main - Audrey Carleton: Pennsylvania’s Amazon Data Center Boom Fueled By A Lucrative Tax Break [Will Cost PA Taxpayers $2 Billion In Revenue By 2031]

-- TribLive: After Multiple Delays, Superload Delivery To Homer City A.I. Data Center/ Power Plant Complex In Indiana County To Begin Wednesday [Sept. 16]

-- TribLive: Despite Delay, Local Officials Happy With First Superload Transport To Homer City Data Center/Power Plant Complex In Indiana County; Next Load Monday

-- TribLive Editorial: Big Equipment Loads Are Part Of Data Centers; These Impacts Should Be Addressed Before Projects Are Approved

-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: Pittsburgh Region Should Look Beyond Industrial Megaprojects For Economic Growth, Report Says

-- The Times Of India: 2026 Study Found Abandoned US Mine Pools Could Cool A.I. Data Centers; One Pennsylvania Site Could Handle 30.6 MW Of Heat

-- The Guardian: Texas Governor Threatens To Penalize A.I. Data Centers Not Obeying Water Laws

Public Participation/Meetings

-- DEP Invites Comments On New Water Quality Permit For Amazon Data Services ADS Berwick Data Center In Salem Twp., Luzerne County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For PPL Electric JUNI-NEBU 500 kV Transmission Line Project In Perry County To Serve Large Loads  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Invites Comments On Stormwater Permit For PPL Electric Stonehouse Substation & Transmission Line Project In Middlesex Twp., Cumberland County  [PaEN]

-- PA Data Center Hearings & Meetings - Physicians For Social Responsibility PA

A.I. Policy

-- TribLive: Shapiro Calls For Government A.I. Regulations On Use - It’s Not What Some In The Industry Want To Hear

-- Gov. Shapiro’s Remarks At A.I. Horizons Summit: Federal Government Needs To Step Up And Regulate The A.I. Industry, Adopt Guardrails For Deployment

-- City & State PA: Pennsylvania Politicians React To Calls For A.I. Development Slowdown

-- TribLive: ‘A.I. Is Inevitable’: PA US Sen. Fetterman, McCormick Back A.I., Balk At Calls For Regulation 

-- TribLive: Can A.I. Really Destroy Humanity? Here’s What Pittsburgh Researchers Think 

-- Post-Gazette/AP: President Calls A.I. Risks A ‘Hoax,’ Says There Is A ‘SICK Conspiracy’ Against A.I. And Data Centers

-- Post-Gazette: Will A.I. Save Or Destroy Us?  At Pittsburgh Summit, Tech Leaders Shift Between Hope And Despair  

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Now Is The Chance To Make A.I. Work For Us And We Must Take It - Can’t Say We Weren’t Warned 

-- Reuters: Ten Days That Changed The Course Of A.I. - A.I. Companies Reeling As Their Own Creations Threatened To Break Humanity Itself 

-- Bloomberg: Google Joins OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta (Facebook) In Disclosing Incidents Of A.I. Agents ‘Inadvertently’ Hacking Systems

-- AP: New Warnings From A.I. Companies About Risks Of A.I. To Humanity Revive Long-Running Debate 

-- AP: President Downplays Need To Check A.I. Development And Says He Doesn’t Want To Cede Edge To China 

-- Wall Street Journal: What’s It Like To Work In A Data Center, Lots Of Walking, Checking For Burning Smells

DEP Data Center Permit Information

Visit DEP’s Data Center Permit Tracker webpage for information on pending permits for A.I. data center projects established by Gov. Shapiro’s Data Center Executive Order.

The Governor’s executive order requires data center developers to obtain all permits and local approvals before DEP can review any permits for the facility.

To provide information to the state on new data center proposals and whether they meet the requirements in Gov. Shapiro’s Data Center Executive Order, visit the Data Center Feedback webpage.

[Posted: September 20, 2026] PA Environment Digest