How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data centers

Residents of Archbald, Penn., are experiencing a contentious boom in proposed AI data center projects. Heather Ainsworth for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Pennsylvania has become a hot spot for data center proposals and public backlash about where to build them.

I’m a law professor and executive director of Penn State’s Center for Energy Law and Policy. I’m also a native of Archbald, a borough of 7,500 residents in the Lackawanna Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. My hometown has drawn national attention because of proposals for multiple data centers that would cover 14% of its area.