Upper Burrell has passed a 180-day moratorium on data center developments while it drafts an ordinance outlining conduct for future projects.
It will not apply to existing work that data center developer TECFusions has been doing to a building at the former Alcoa/Arconic technology center to fit its AI computing needs.
“What they’re doing up there right now is grandfathered in and this curative agreement — or you can look at it as a moratorium — just gives us 180 days to make sure that we have the ordinance that we need to protect the township,” township Supervisor Scott Brown said.
For the time being, the moratorium will prohibit TECFusions from doing work outside the existing building, Brown said.
TECFusions did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
The moratorium will also prevent any new data center developments at other locations.
Brown said the township had been working on the moratorium for the past few weeks.
“We felt it was best to protect the township, especially for the future,” Brown said. “It’s going to protect it the whole way around (to) make sure that we have the ordinance that is not just … for TECFusions. The ordinance is for the whole township — for anybody else that wants to come in to try to put a data center in.”
The move comes after residents voiced concerns about the TECFusions project at a town hall held this month by township officials and the developer’s representatives.
Township residents and people from nearby municipalities expressed concerns about environmental pollution, associated health risks, noise, energy usage and the township’s ability to regulate the project.
At the town hall, TECFusions founder Simon Tusha said the project will not be an environmental and health detriment to the community and would boost the local tax base.
Township supervisors Chairman Ross Walker said work on the ordinance is progressing well.
“The whole ordinance is coalescing into something that’s going to be a good protection for the township,” Walker said.
