BY Jon Anzur, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry
Pennsylvania stands at an inflection point.
Towns across the Commonwealth have seen industries fade—and with them, the economic opportunities that our young people need to stay and raise their families. As a result, Pennsylvania’s population has been flat or declining for years, with the Commonwealth losing residents in recent decades as more people move out than move in.
But here’s the good news: The Keystone State has a golden opportunity to change that.
As demand for digital services accelerates—from telehealth and online banking to advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and logistics—states across the country are competing to attract the infrastructure that makes the modern economy possible. At the center of this competition are data centers, the physical backbone of the digital world.
For Pennsylvania, data center development represents a once in a generation opportunity: to attract historic private investment; create new and diverse career pathways that would help reverse decades of population stagnation and decline; strengthen local tax bases with the resources to fund our schools, infrastructure, and public safety; and empower communities to build long term, sustainable prosperity.
The Infrastructure Behind the Digital Economy
Data centers are highly secure, purpose built facilities that store, process, and transmit data powering nearly every aspect of daily life—from smartphones and streaming services to hospital systems, financial institutions, energy grids, and emergency response networks.
As global data generation continues to grow at an extraordinary pace, the need for modern, reliable data center infrastructure is expanding just as quickly. States that position themselves to meet that demand will benefit from sustained economic growth, create good-paying careers, and drive local investments to communities that need them.
And, given that Pennsylvania is a top energy producer due to our robust natural resources, coupled with modern data center technologies that allow for efficient energy and water usage, the Commonwealth is uniquely positioned to capitalize while lowering energy costs and protecting ratepayers.
Historic Investment with Long Term Impact
Data centers represent some of the largest private sector capital investments a community can attract. A single data center campus can involve hundreds of millions—or even billions—of dollars in upfront investment in land, construction, equipment, and electrical infrastructure.
Importantly, these investments are not short term. Data centers are designed to operate for decades, meaning communities benefit from long term property tax revenue that supports schools, infrastructure, public safety, and local services—often without placing significant new demands on those services.
Consider that in Loudon County, Virginia, data centers comprise three percent of the land but contribute 40 percent of the tax revenue. For context, it would take more than 75,000 homes to generate the same revenue. And a data center project proposed in central Pennsylvania will generate over $65 million in direct tax revenue – doubling the township’s operating budget, covering a quarter of the school district’s annual budget, and providing a 12 percent increase to the county’s overall tax base.
For rural and post industrial communities in particular, this type of stable, long term investment can be transformative, providing a new economic anchor where traditional industries have declined.
New Careers—and New Pathways to Opportunity
While data centers are highly automated, they still support a wide range of good paying careers, both directly and indirectly. Each direct data center job supports six additional jobs in industries including construction, maintenance, and local services.
Data center development creates:
- Permanent, high skill roles in IT, cybersecurity, facilities management, and engineering.
- Skilled trade jobs during development and expansion.
- Indirect employment through local suppliers, contractors, and service providers.
Just as important, data centers help create career pathways that align with Pennsylvania’s workforce priorities. They partner naturally with community colleges, technical schools, and apprenticeship programs—providing opportunities for Pennsylvanians to access stable, future focused careers without leaving their home regions.
Addressing Concerns with Facts
Questions about water and energy use often arise when discussing data center development. These are real concerns that deserve factual, science based answers.
The servers and equipment inside data centers produce heat, requiring cooling to prevent damage to digital infrastructure and impede services. There is no single cooling solution that works everywhere, as the best approach depends on local climate conditions and water availability, including recycled or reclaimed sources. However, data centers are some of the most efficient users of water in our economy.
For instance, many modern data centers increasingly rely on closed loop cooling systems, which dramatically reduce water consumption by reusing the same water repeatedly rather than drawing continuously from local supplies.
In many cases, data centers use less water than other common industrial or agricultural activities, comparable to or less than a golf course or restaurant. According to December 2024 report by Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission, 83% of data centers in Virginia used the same amount of water (or less) than an average large office building.
Additionally, operators routinely work with local water authorities to ensure systems are designed to protect community resources—particularly in water stressed areas.
Energy Use—and Energy Opportunity
Pennsylvania is the nation’s top electricity exporter and a leading producer of baseload energy (like natural gas, coal, and refined petroleum). In fact, Pennsylvania sends approximately 26 percent of the electricity we generate to other states in the PJM grid, subsidizing economic development and jobs there rather than at home.
Despite our high rate of energy production, reliability is at risk, and electricity prices have increased. This is due in part to accelerated retirements of reliable baseload energy generation resources, which have outpaced the ability to bring new energy generation sources online. As Pennsylvania has failed to supply the reliable energy generation needed to meet demand, electricity prices have risen — a trend that started well before data centers.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average residential price in Pennsylvania rose 34 percent between 2022 and 2025, before more than $90 billion in investments in data centers and related technologies were announced.
Pennsylvania has an opportunity to keep our home-grown electricity in-state to power the jobs and innovation our local communities need. When managed correctly, energy demand can be an asset, not a liability. Data centers do require significant electricity, but many data center developers are funding new baseload generation (including from natural gas, nuclear, and hydrogen). These projects are entirely funded by private capital, not ratepayers, reducing congestion costs and ensuring that residents maintain access to accessible, affordable power.
For example, the Homer City Energy Campus in Indiana County, a privately funded redevelopment of a retired coal facility into a gas fired plant that will generate enough power to not only service the data center campus but also send enough excess electricity to the grid to power three million homes.
Data centers are not just large energy users; they are critical enablers of efficiency and energy savings for homes, businesses, industry, and utilities. Across Pennsylvania, technologies like smart thermostats, EV charging management, smart meters, and grid enhancing tools depend on data center infrastructure.
In Pennsylvania, data centers can help drive investment in energy infrastructure that benefits all customers, supports economic development and job growth at home, and reinforces the Commonwealth’s role as a national energy leader.
A Sustainable Path Forward
Perhaps most importantly, data centers offer Pennsylvania a way to build sustainable, community driven prosperity.
They do not replace traditional industries—they complement them. They do not require communities to change who they are—they provide tools to shape what comes next.
With the right policies in place, data center development can help Pennsylvania:
- Compete nationally for investment.
- Keep talent in state.
- Revitalize local economies.
- Strengthen public finances.
- Support innovation across every sector.
Pennsylvania has everything it takes to lead in the digital economy—energy, talent, infrastructure, and communities ready to prosper. Data centers offer a rare chance to turn those strengths into lasting investment, good-paying careers, and stronger local governments across the Commonwealth. With smart policy and local partnership, data centers can help keep talent here, power innovation, and write Pennsylvania’s next economic chapter. The opportunity is real—and the choice to lead is ours.
Article from the February 2026 Municipal Reporter | Pennsylvania Data Centers Edition
