A proposed data center campus spanning Bowmanstown and Lower Towamensing Township would bring a major land-use decision—and questions about water and power infrastructure—to two Carbon County communities. The project is not approved: DTA Alliance LLC and an affiliated company have filed zoning challenges in both municipalities, arguing that their ordinances do not provide for data centers. Those claims remain disputed, not judicial findings.
The proposals differ sharply in scale. In Bowmanstown, DTA seeks a 55-acre overlay district near Ore and Ridge streets and proposes a 375,000-square-foot building for cooling equipment. In neighboring Lower Towamensing, its proposed campus would cover more than 700 acres with 14 buildings totaling 4.5 million square feet. The campus footprint includes Blue Shamrock Golf Club and surrounds four private residences, according to Times News and DiscoverNEPA.
A zoning challenge is not an approval
The companies’ filings invoke Pennsylvania’s curative-amendment process, which allows a landowner to challenge a zoning ordinance it alleges unlawfully excludes a legitimate use. The Municipalities Planning Code says the first hearing must begin within 60 days of receipt of an application unless the applicant agrees in writing to an extension. The law also distinguishes a municipality’s rejection of an amendment from a later court ruling on whether the challenge has merit, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
DTA’s Bowmanstown filing argues that the borough’s zoning code does not allow data centers in any district and that a catch-all provision leaves too much discretion to the zoning hearing board. Its proposed overlay would be in an open-space residential district. In Lower Towamensing, the proposed overlay would cover land zoned Resort & Recreation and Rural Conservation. These are the applicant’s arguments; the municipalities’ hearings and any subsequent legal proceedings will determine how they are addressed.
The Lower Towamensing hearing, initially scheduled for Oct. 27, has been postponed at the applicant’s request. Township officials have floated Dec. 14, 16 and 17 as possible replacement dates, with a final date still to be determined, Times News reported. The proposed campus is projected by DTA to cost about $4 billion, but the supplied proposal details do not establish the project’s eventual electricity demand, water source or water withdrawals.
Local rules and regional grid risks
Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development discusses local authority and zoning considerations. Those issues do not determine whether this project should be permitted or what its effects would be.
A separate Berks County example illustrates one possible local response, but not a guaranteed path for Carbon County. On Sept. 15, 2026, New Morgan Borough Council approved a zoning-map change and data-center overlay after two public hearings; the Reading Eagle reported that no data-center application had been submitted there. Pennsylvania’s planning guidance and the New Morgan action show that municipalities may consider local standards, but neither resolves the legal challenges or project review in Bowmanstown and Lower Towamensing.
The infrastructure debate also sits alongside a broader regional concern about electricity demand. A Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission study warned that rapid data-center growth could threaten reliability if demand significantly outpaces available resources. The commission cautioned that its modeled risks do not predict a specific number of customer outages—and the analysis is not a forecast of outages caused by the Carbon County proposal.
Opponents have questioned data-center water use more broadly, according to Times News. Water needs and a supply plan, alongside the zoning questions, will be central to what residents and decision-makers assess.
