Salem Township Supervisors in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Vote 2-0 on October 27 to Approve Overlay for a 4,466-Acre, 4-Gigawatt Data Center Campus
The Board of Supervisors of Salem Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, voted 2-0 on the evening of October 27, following a public hearing, to expand the township's special data center overlay district, clearing a major hurdle for the Salem 3 campus. The planned energy and digital infrastructure campus covers 4,466 acres with a projected power demand of 4 gigawatts, involves 194 local families participating in the project, and represents potential land transactions of $1.4 billion; the land includes working and retired farms, family homesites and other properties.
Before the vote, the Salem Township Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of the project by 3-0 on September 24. Project co-founder Jack Soldoni said data centers are not a simple yes-or-no question, and that what matters is siting and approach; the project sits between two nuclear units, a large natural gas power plant and major power infrastructure, with virtually unconstrained fuel sources.
The organizers say a land assembly of this scale, with so many families in unanimous support, is rare under any circumstances and represents a rare economic opportunity for Northeastern Pennsylvania. The project team will continue with subsequent approvals and development steps, and the township will stay in communication with residents about the project's effects on the local community, infrastructure and environment.
(The project descriptions and expected benefits cited in this report come from a press release issued by the developer via GlobeNewswire and reflect the project side's account; subsequent approval processes for the project are still under way.)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 宾夕法尼亚州塞勒姆镇附近的萨斯奎哈纳核电站冷却塔，拟建数据中心园区即在此一带。 / Cooling towers of the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station near Salem Township, Pennsylvania, near the proposed data center campus.
