Luzerne County

Moratoriums and bans

1. June 8, 2026 Hazle Township: Moratorium. Supervisors unanimously declared the zoning ordinance invalid for leaving out data centers, starting a 180-day pause on new data center applications while a curative amendment is drafted. (Times Leader, June 8, 2026; Food & Water Watch, June 9, 2026)

Updates, newest first

1. Oct. 20, 2026 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · The state Department of Environmental Protection's data center permit tracker lists 34 environmental permit or authorization entries for the project: 25 issued, 5 pending, 4 not yet submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
2. Oct. 20, 2026 QTS Salem campus · The state Department of Environmental Protection's data center permit tracker lists 15 environmental permit or authorization entries for the project: 5 pending, 10 not yet submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
3. Oct. 20, 2026 Salem 3 data center campus (4-3 Glen Brook Group) · DEP's data center permit tracker lists the project as proposed, with no permit applications received and no mapped site. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
4. Oct. 20, 2026 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · The state Department of Environmental Protection's data center permit tracker lists 17 environmental permit or authorization entries for the project: 13 issued, 2 pending, 2 not yet submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
5. Aug. 22, 2026 QTS Salem campus · Developers told a public meeting the QTS campus would have about 12 buildings built in phases, with construction to start in late 2026. (Times Leader, Aug. 22, 2026)
6. Aug. 22, 2026 Salem 3 data center campus (4-3 Glen Brook Group) · The Salem Township Planning Commission recommended expanding the data center overlay zone to cover the project; the supervisors had not yet decided. (Times Leader, Aug. 22, 2026)
7. Aug. 18, 2026 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · First of a second set of state permit applications for the campus (listed separately on DEP's tracker) submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
8. June 8, 2026 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · Hazle Township declared its zoning ordinance invalid on data centers, starting a 180-day pause on new data center applications while it writes rules. (Times Leader, June 8, 2026)
9. June 8, 2026 Hazle Township: Moratorium · Supervisors unanimously declared the zoning ordinance invalid for leaving out data centers, starting a 180-day pause on new data center applications while a curative amendment is drafted. (Times Leader, June 8, 2026; Food & Water Watch, June 9, 2026)
10. May 19, 2026 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · NorthPoint announced a $30 million community fund to offset possible local utility rate increases, while appealing the denial in county court. (Dallas Post (Times Leader), May 19, 2026)
11. May 2026 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · A Luzerne County judge denied NorthPoint's appeal, agreeing with the township that the case belongs before the zoning hearing board. (Times Leader, June 8, 2026; Food & Water Watch, June 9, 2026; Inside Climate News, July 2, 2026)
12. March 19, 2026 QTS Salem campus · QTS completed its purchase of about 1,700 acres, from close to 100 sellers, for more than $500 million. (Data Center Dynamics, March 19, 2026)
13. Dec. 8, 2025 QTS Salem campus · Earliest environmental permit application listed for the project on DEP's data center permit tracker submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
14. Nov. 2025 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · Hazle Township supervisors denied NorthPoint's land development application. (Times Leader, June 8, 2026; Dallas Post (Times Leader), May 19, 2026)
15. June 11, 2025 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · Talen announced a deal to sell Amazon up to 1,920 MW from Susquehanna through 2042, delivered through the grid rather than behind the meter. (Utility Dive, June 11, 2025)
16. June 9, 2025 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · Gov. Shapiro and Amazon announced at least $20 billion of Amazon data center investment in Pennsylvania, naming Salem Township and Falls Township as the first sites. (WVIA News, June 9, 2025)
17. Feb. 18, 2025 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · A Luzerne County Council committee advanced NorthPoint's request for a 10-year county property tax break on the 15-building campus. (Dallas Post (Times Leader), Feb. 18, 2025)
18. Dec. 3, 2024 Project Hazelnut (NorthPoint Development) · Earliest environmental permit application listed for the project on DEP's data center permit tracker submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
19. Nov. 2024 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · Federal regulators (FERC) rejected an amended interconnection agreement that would have let the nuclear plant sell more power directly to the co-located Amazon campus. (Utility Dive, June 11, 2025)
20. June 11, 2024 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · Earliest environmental permit application listed for the project on DEP's data center permit tracker submitted. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026)
21. May 30, 2024 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · Salem Township supervisors voted 3-0 to put nearly 1,600 acres into a new data center overlay district; Amazon plans up to 15 buildings over about ten years. (Data Center Dynamics, May 30, 2024)
22. March 2024 Amazon Web Services Salem Township campus (former Talen Cumulus campus, next to Susquehanna nuclear plant) · Amazon bought Talen Energy's Cumulus data center campus next to the Susquehanna nuclear plant for $650 million. (WVIA News, June 9, 2025; Data Center Dynamics, May 30, 2024)

Statewide

Pennsylvania exempts computer data center equipment from state sales and use tax for certified data centers (Act 84 of 2016, amended by Act 13 of 2019 and Act 25 of 2021; the up-front exemption began Jan. 1, 2022), run by the Department of Revenue; Spotlight PA reported the exemption is projected to cost about $2 billion by mid-2031. (Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Oct. 20, 2026; Spotlight PA, July 20, 2026) The Public Utility Commission adopted a model large-load tariff on April 30, 2026 and issued its final order May 13, 2026 (Docket M-2025-3054271): guidance for utilities on customers over 50 MW (or 100 MW combined), with cost responsibility, collateral, six-month interconnection studies and public queue information. (Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, May 13, 2026) Executive Order 2026-05 (Aug. 18, 2026) set the governor's GRID standards for data centers, requires local approvals before DEP reviews permits, bars state nondisclosure agreements with developers, ordered a public permit map and ended Fast Track eligibility for data center projects. (Barley Snyder, Aug. 19, 2026) DEP's Data Center Permit Tracker, created under that order, listed 73 project entries on Oct. 20, 2026 (some projects appear more than once), with 375 permit rows; most proposals have filed no permits yet. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Oct. 20, 2026) The 2026-27 budget (July 2026) added a requirement that data centers using more than 10 MW report their energy and water use; local moratorium bills (SB 1345, 18 months; a House six-month bill; SB 1359, a three-year statewide pause) had not reached the governor. (Spotlight PA, July 20, 2026; Broadband Breakfast, July 21, 2026; Altoona Mirror, June 30, 2026) Constellation is restarting the 835 MW Crane Clean Energy Center (former Three Mile Island Unit 1) in Dauphin County for Microsoft under a 20-year power deal, targeting the second half of 2027; FERC granted an interconnection-rights waiver in June 2026. (Mugglehead, June 4, 2026) Pennsylvania data centers →