(WBRE/WYOU) — It's often called the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the United States, data centers. Northeastern Pennsylvania is ground zero for the potential development of these operations.
Data center development is a hot and controversial issue in the area, with much of that controversy dealing with quality of life concerns and potential environmental impacts.
The I-Team's Andy Mehalshick talks with local officials about potential data center development and what area residents need to know moving forward.
We start with the ongoing concerns and questions being raised by many in our area about the development of data centers.
Data centers are the heart of the digital world, and are seen by some as the center of America's next economic revolution.
There are a lot of moving parts to this story.
I can tell you, by far, the majority of the people I have spoken with in recent weeks are not against data centers, but they do have big-time concerns about their quality of life and potential environmental impact.
"I wanted to find out: here's how much electricity we're going to use, and here's how we track how we're using that electricity. Nothing like that was talked about," stated Bill Vernon, Eynon.
That comment was made at a public meeting last week in Archbald, Lackawanna County.
It was a state senate committee hearing to discuss development.
Pennsylvania is expected to see some $90 billion dollars in investments in data centers.
They are the center of the digital universe, often called "The Cloud."
"It's like we went to bed and opened up the paper or watching tv stations and data centers are everywhere," said John Augustine, President-CEO, Penn's Northeast.
John Augustine is President and CEO of Penn's Northeast, a regional economic development group.
"I think in the perfect world, just like we've done in the past industrial revolutions, we can learn to live side by side and really take advantage from an economic stand point to really build on the community," explained Augustine.
He says he understands resident's concerns.
"I think it's important that residents ask questions and get them answered. That there's zoning to protect, not only for the company, but also the residents themselves," said Augustine.
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo sees the economic benefit but also hears the concerns.
"I expressed that we want them. If they're coming, we want it done right, and we want them to partner with us to make sure that any kind of environmental concerns are at a minimum," voiced Crocamo.
John Yudichak is President of Luzerne County Community College. The college is taking steps to have a workforce ready for data center development.
"Many of the skilled jobs related to the data center development are skilled trade jobs. Northeast building trades, they are going to be a big part of building these centers and maintaining centers building out the cloud infrastructure," explained Yudichak.
