Activists with the No Data Centers in Philly campaign are gathering on the South Apron of Philadelphia City Hall at noon Monday to demand City Council pass a moratorium halting new data center construction, warning that the city currently has no rules governing where the facilities can be built or how nearby communities should be protected.
The press conference and rally, first reported by WHYY, comes as two potential data center sites are eyed in the southwest and northeast portions of the city. Organizer Shawmar Pitts said the lack of safeguards amounts to a “recipe for disaster,” according to the outlet, and argued Council should pass a moratorium to pause construction while the city figures out how to regulate the emerging industry.
The Philadelphia rally lands amid a wave of similar pushback across the region and the country. Oakland, California, has proposed a 45-day pause, according to Hoodline.
A Regulatory Vacuum Feeds Regional Conflict
Proposed data centers have become a source of major conflict in multiple communities surrounding Philadelphia, per the WHYY report. In Upper Merion Township, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to strike down developer Brian O'Neill's plan to build five data centers, a decision that followed a petition signed by 20,000 residents and came after a judge vacated a temporary injunction O'Neill's company had filed, according to FOX 29 Philadelphia. The rejected proposal totaled more than 4.6 million square feet across five sites.
Not far away, in Plymouth Township, officials publicly accused O'Neill of legal intimidation after he filed a court challenge against the township's zoning ordinance. That fight followed Plymouth's decision to attach 43 strict environmental and operating conditions to O'Neill's proposed 2 million-square-foot data center at a former steel mill site, with the developer arguing the conditions were excessively burdensome and designed to block development, per WHYY's coverage of that dispute.
State Leaders Move to Shield Ratepayers
Governor Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2026-05 in August, eliminating fast-tracked data center permit approvals and requiring developers to cover the costs of new energy infrastructure needed to power their projects, per the WHYY report. The order also converts what had been voluntary environmental and grid standards into mandatory permitting conditions for data centers exceeding 25 megawatts of peak demand, requiring developers to demonstrate local land-use compliance before receiving state environmental permits, according to DLA Piper.
Neighboring states have taken similar steps. Delaware Governor Matt Meyer signed a four-bill package in August requiring developers to generate or supply their own clean energy, cover all grid infrastructure costs, and give up eligibility for job-creation tax credits, according to coasttv.com. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed legislation establishing a dedicated ratepayer class for data centers using over 50 megawatts, aiming to prevent costs from shifting onto residential customers, while requiring twice-yearly usage reports; environmental groups gathered outside that bill signing to demand a full statewide moratorium, per state officials cited by the outlet.
Amazon's Bucks County Plans and a New Jersey Case Study
Amazon has committed to build $20 billion worth of data centers in Pennsylvania and has planned a facility in Bucks County at the former U.S. Steel Fairless Works site, according to the WHYY report. That site became the focus of Hoodline's earlier coverage after hundreds attended a state environmental town hall over Amazon's application to install 280 natural gas-fired emergency generators there and raised concerns about air quality, in a story Hoodline first reported. WHYY separately notes that natural gas turbines and diesel backup generators, like those proposed at O'Neill's Montgomery County sites, can exacerbate respiratory problems and other health conditions.
In Vineland, New Jersey, a 300-megawatt data center being developed by DataOne to support artificial intelligence infrastructure — commissioned by Nebius Group as part of a deal valued at $17 billion — began construction of a liquefied natural gas tank and fuel cell units without city approval, per WHYY's account, and the project has since received stop-work notices.
Public Opinion and What Comes Next
A Gallup poll from May found seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers in their local area, with respondents citing effects on natural resources, financial impacts, and opposition to artificial intelligence as reasons, according to the WHYY article. Regional grid manager PJM Interconnection has projected substantial summer peak electric-load growth and cited data-center development as a driver, a trend that could push capacity prices toward the ceiling, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Governor's Office. State officials say negotiated price caps during recent capacity auctions saved consumers more than $30 billion in potential rate hikes.
Community scrutiny has also touched Southwest Philadelphia, where redevelopment of the 1,300-acre former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery site into the Bellwether District logistics hub has raised questions about potential high-energy industrial uses, including data centers or power generation facilities, according to PhillyVoice. The outlet also discussed the former refinery site's redevelopment. Philadelphia currently has no zoning framework for data centers, and two potential sites have been identified in the southwest and northeast of the city. Organizers are calling for City Council to pass a moratorium.
