Valley News Dispatch

Upper Burrell data center town hall scheduled for May


Representative from developer TECFusions to be present
Ember Duke
By Ember Duke
2 Min Read April 9, 2026 | 4 hours ago
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Upper Burrell Township and developer TECFusions will hold a public town hall on May 5 at Penn State New Kensington to discuss an incoming data center and field community concerns.

It will be held at 6 p.m. in the theater located at 3550 Seventh Street Road.

At a March township supervisors meeting, residents raised concerns about the project regarding their health, noise, the environment and adhering to state laws.

Supervisors at the time didn’t have answers to ease concerns, but said the township would write an ordinance to ensure protections.

Still in the research phase, the township is looking to other municipalities’ ordinances as a model, Supervisor Scott Brown said.

“As of right now, we’re trying to get input from everywhere,” Brown said. “We’re trying to get everything ironed out, and we want to make sure that we have all the bases covered.”

He said the township might have a rough draft by the town hall date, but won’t have a completed version by then.

The data center will go in the former Alcoa/Arconic Research and Development campus.

The 1,395-acre site was bought by Florida-based TECFusions in 2024 and has the potential to host 3 gigawatts of electricity.

TECFusions has already netted artificial intelligence cloud system company TensorWave as its first tenant.

TECFusions spokesperson Melissa Farney previously told TribLive the company hopes to address community concerns.

Residents can send questions in advance to the township at ubtwp@upperburrelltwp.com. All submitted questions will be compiled and given to TECFusions, according to the township website.

The town hall was originally scheduled for January, but was canceled due to weather.

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About the Writers

Ember Duke a TribLive staff writer. She can be reached at eduke@triblive.com.

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