Hempfield hasn’t received any proposals for a data center, but the township is ready if it does.
Supervisors this week approved updated zoning to permit data centers only in industrial zones, said planning manager Matthew Pernelli.
“There are multiple concerns with data centers, but like with anything, there’s pros and cons,” he said.
Township manager Aaron Siko confirmed Hempfield has not received any plans for a data center and there are not any proposals forthcoming.
Hempfield is getting ahead of any such requests while other area municipalities are wading through the fine points of data centers being built in their communities. There are 57 data centers being proposed in Pennsylvania, according to Track Data Centers, a mapping tool.
Springdale in December approved a conditional use application from developer Allegheny DC Property Co. to build a massive complex at the site of the former Cheswick Generating Station.
Upper Burrell is working on an ordinance to address data centers. A center is proposed there, the only one in Westmoreland County, according to Track Data Centers.
In April, Homer City Redevelopment announced plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant and data center on a 3,200-acre site in Indiana County that held a coal-fired power plant that was shut down in 2023. The estimated $10 billion development is projected to begin generating power next year. Officials say it will produce power in excess of what is needed for the data center, adding to the energy supply through the interstate transmission grid.
State officials including Gov. Josh Shapiro and state Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, have indicated support for the project.
Homer City Redevelopment says the project will create 10,000 on-site construction jobs and 1,000 direct and indirect permanent jobs in technology, operations and energy infrastructure.
