The data center fight in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
As of September 27, 2026, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania has a data center moratorium under consideration (action taken 2026-08-25).
Status is derived, not stored — a pause with a documented end date flips to Expired on its own — and the source is right next to the claim.
Status today
County Council introduced Bill 8185928 to ban data center construction and related infrastructure (backup generators, cooling towers) on county-owned properties (~770 parcels, ~30,000 acres). Introduced by seven council members including Dan Grzybek and Bethany Hallam. Referred to committee on sustainability and green initiatives.
SourceNews
read 2026-09-06
An expiry date is the earliest a pause could have ended — extensions are common, so confirm with the clerk before citing it.
The project on the table
Springdale Data Center — In review
Operator: Allegheny DC Property Co. LLC · Filing LLC: Allegheny DC Property Co. LLC
Environmental permits under review at PA DEP (3 issued).
Next: Application filed. Ask the planning office for the hearing date and request formal notice.
Latest in the record
- 2025-12-08 — Water Obstruction & Encroachment Pmt application submitted to PA DEP under WRM Water Obstructions & Encroachments (E02-145 / eFACTS auth 1551380) — DEP status: Issued. · source
- 2025-12-08 — Water Obstruction & Encroachment Pmt application submitted to PA DEP under WRM Water Obstructions & Encroachments (E02-231 / eFACTS auth 1551370) — DEP status: Issued. · source
- 2025-12-08 — BWM-GP-11 Maintenance, Testing, Repair, Rehabilitation or Replacement General Pmt application submitted to PA DEP under WRM Water Obstructions & Encroachments (GP110216248 / eFACTS auth 1551375) — DEP status: Issued. · source
- 2025-12-08 — BWM-GP-11 Maintenance /Testing / Repair / Rehabilitation / Replacement General Pmt application submitted to PA DEP under WRM Water Obstructions & Encroachments (GP110216248 / eFACTS auth 1551375) — DEP status: Issued. · source
Full dated timeline on the project tracker.
Source. Read 2026-09-20.
Recent news
4 stories tracked since 2026-06-23 across 4 outlets. 3× A community is pushing back on a nearby data center. 1× Neighbors say the new load is pushing up their power bills. Most recent: “Allegheny County Council bill could ban data centers on county-owned properties” (90.5 WESA, 2026-08-26).
- Allegheny County Council bill could ban data centers on county-owned properties
- Allegheny Township looks to draft data center ordinance
- Data center concerns have residents asking Allegheny County to step in, but its power may be limited
- Data center concerns have residents asking Allegheny County to step in, but its power may be limited
Automated news aggregation, not human-verified — follow each link to the original outlet. Part of the story tracker, 4 headlines archived.
Where the decision gets made
County Council — Legislative branch, 15 members. Residents have asked the county to step in on data-center impacts (air quality, water, electricity, property values) via its Climate Action Plan process, but county regulatory power is limited — Pennsylvania municipalities, not counties, control zoning, and a legal land use can't simply be prohibited. The county is drafting a model zoning ordinance for municipalities to adopt.
Meets: 2 Tuesdays/month, 5:00 p.m.
Where: Allegheny County Courthouse, Suite 119, 436 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Public comment: See the council's published agenda for the public-comment process for a specific meeting.
Read from the official page on 2026-08-12. Meeting details change — confirm before you go.
What to do next
- Questions to ask at the hearing — force specific answers onto the record.
- Estimate the impact — electricity, water, and rate pressure for any facility size in Pennsylvania.
- Model CBA clauses — copy-paste language communities have actually won.
- Pennsylvania briefing — rates, grid carbon, PUC contacts, and every fight in the state.
Nearby in Pennsylvania
- Upper Burrell Township (16 mi) — Enactedexpires soon — 2026-11-02
- Center Township (22 mi) — Enactedexpires 2026-12-07
- South Strabane Township (24 mi) — Rejectedterm not documented
- Buffalo Township (28 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-02-08
- Brookville (67 mi) — Enactedexpires 2026-12-14
- Gregg Township (157 mi) — Enactedexpires 2027-02-16
- Warrington Township (160 mi) — Enactedno fixed end — runs until a condition is met
- Pennsylvania (164 mi) — Proposedterm not documented
All 19 tracked actions in Pennsylvania are on the state page.
As of August 2026 · changes weekly — re-check before citing
Illustrative rather than exhaustive — dozens of localities churn weekly, and this tracks the ones we have read a source for. **Each row carries its own provenance.** Rows showing a verification date link to the ordinance, the enacting body's own page, or a datable report of the vote, and were read on that date. Rows marked *unverified* came from bulk compilation and have not been checked against a primary source — the locality, the year, and the status may all be off. Verify one of those with the town clerk before citing it as precedent. **Expiry is derived, not asserted.** A row with a documented end date flips to *Expired* on its own once that date passes. A time-limited moratorium whose start date was never documented keeps showing as enacted — that is a known gap, not a claim that it is still in force. Moratoriums are also routinely extended, so an expiry date is the earliest it could have ended, not proof that it did.
Part of the U.S. data center moratorium tracker — open data, CC BY 4.0.