NANTICOKE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— It could mean millions in investments in our area, but many are worried about the environmental fallout.
The topic took center stage again Thursday.
28/22's Joe Mason explains what they are and has some of the pros and cons of having these centers come to our area.
The topic of data centers continues to spark debate across the country.
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Some are for them, others against them.
But, what exactly do they do?
"Data centers are where you can store your servers or other companies store their servers to create a cloud environment. They can also have services tied to them where you can have backup systems in place, different applications, different programs running. It's basically a way of housing it not within your own confines of your structure," explained Spencer Rappaport, computer engineer.
In June, Amazon announced a $20 billion investment in two data centers in the commonwealth, including one in Salem Township in Luzerne County.
Governor Josh Shapiro (D) says this is the largest capital investment in the state's history.
"An initial investment of at least 20 billion dollars in multiple state of the art data centers across our commonwealth that will power our global economy and the future of artificial intelligence. And across those two sites, amazon will create 1,250 permanent jobs," stated Governor Josh Shapiro.
John Yudichak championed for data centers during his time in the state senate and says they're great for economic growth.
"Artificial intelligence can drive every factor of the economy from health care to education to business. We need to be a world leader in the united states and I think Pennsylvania needs to be a leader in the country," voiced John Yudichak, President, Luzerne County Community College.
Dr. Andrew Sanko and John Zola are members of The Alliance to Stop the Line.
They also support data centers, but have some concerns.
"I am concerned with the connection between the transmission lines and the data centers particularly around the environmental impacts. Equally concerning is the water usage. I'm also concerned about noise and community disruption," worried Sanko.
"The data centers are part of the future. They need to be put in appropriate places. I'm not against them. I'm against the way they're doing it right now. They're trying to rush this. There's no planning in place. It's just who can get the most data centers up the quickest," added John Zola, Founder of Alliance to Stop the Line.
To date, there have been several public hearings in municipalities across Northeastern Pennsylvania.
All of them discussing the possibility of these data centers coming into their communities. More meetings are scheduled in the coming weeks.
