Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Community Groups Urge Officials to Restrict Data Center Development – Inside Climate News

Published

5 months ago

October 15, 2025

Pennsylvania Community Groups Urge Officials to Restrict Data Center Development – Inside Climate News

As plans to build huge data centers multiply across the United States, some Pennsylvania communities are pushing back.

Responding to public opposition, commissioners in Hampden Township, near Harrisburg, voted in September against allowing data centers in office park zones.

In the borough of Blakely, northeast of Scranton, a developer dropped plans for a data center that same month after local protests.

And in Anthony Township in central Pennsylvania, a citizens group is urging municipal leaders to reject an application by Talen Energy, a power-generating company, to rezone 1,300 acres near one of its power plants to an industrial classification that could be used for a data center.

“To pick up that much land and build any kind of industry would be very detrimental to the whole rural atmosphere,” said Sam Burleigh, a co-founder of the group, Concerned Citizens of Montour County.

Taryne Williams, a spokesperson for Talen Energy, said a change to industrial zoning would align with the classification of other Talen-owned land in the area.

“We are still assessing the viability of potential projects, and the rezoning request will help support any possible future development opportunity near the plant, which could include data centers,” Williams said.

Data centers power the internet, but what’s driving the new increase in proposals around the country—many of them supersized—is artificial intelligence. Boosters say these complexes are big taxpayers and bring jobs. Critics often cite the intense buildout in Northern Virginia as an illustration of the effect they can have on communities, from constant low-frequency noise to spiking electric bills and major water usage.

Data-center developers warned the Virginia utility Dominion Energy at the end of last year that their upcoming projects would need 40 gigawatts of electricity—the energy equivalent of increasing Virginia’s households nearly fourfold.

Dominion plans to respond by building more natural gas power plants, which could raise utility bills for households and businesses while increasing carbon emissions.

Many data centers also have on-site diesel generators that are meant for backup power but are being run more frequently, worsening air quality and prompting noise complaints from residents.

“We’ve seen the devastating impact of these hyper-scale data centers in other states. We applaud Hampden Township for standing up against this water and energy guzzling industry,” said Virginia Marcille-Kerslake, eastern Pennsylvania organizer for the nonprofit Food & Water Watch, which took credit for mobilizing public opposition to the proposed zoning change there.

Some 300 Hampden residents signed a petition opposing the zoning change. The town’s seven commissioners voted unanimously against it.

“When we caught wind that Hampden was doing this, we created a flyer with a QR code to raise awareness,” Marcille-Kerslake said. “We started knocking on doors, and nobody knew about it but as word started to spread, the comments people made were so well-informed.”

Marcille-Kerslake urged municipalities to restrict data centers to industrial zones and away from homes, schools and hospitals. Food & Water Watch recommends imposing conditions on data centers rather than banning them altogether.

“You have to put it somewhere, so you have to have a very strong ordinance to keep the data center in the industrial district,” she said.

Twenty-one data centers are now planned in Pennsylvania, according to padatacenterproposals.com, a database that tracks the projects. Many are in the northeastern part of the state.

Among the projects moving forward is one planned by Amazon Web Services in Salem Township, near Wilkes-Barre. The project, one of two Amazon data centers that represent a total investment of $20 billion by the tech giant in Pennsylvania, is expected to use about as much electricity as 750,000 homes.

Not far from there, in Hazle Township, NorthPoint Development is planning a 15-building data center on some 1,280 acres.

And in neighboring Delaware, recently unveiled plans to build a six-million-square-foot data center in the northern part of the state have prompted a bill in New Castle County calling on the developer to ensure that the electric grid will have sufficient capacity to supply the 1,200 megawatts that the giant center would need. Delaware is part of the regional grid run by PJM Interconnection, which also includes Pennsylvania and Virginia, and it’s already under pressure from data-center growth.

The latest version of the New Castle County bill also calls for the developer to plan for the center’s decommissioning so taxpayers are not left with the cost of closing it down.

Developer Starwood Digital Ventures said about 40 percent of the site would be open space, about twice the share required by the county, and around double that typically occupied by data centers around the country.

The company plans to meet the plant’s huge energy needs by connecting to an existing 500-kilovolt power line that is “one of the largest capacity lines that is employed on the U.S. grid,” said Starwood’s CEO, Anthony Balastrieri. “Having access to that infrastructure that already exists is very beneficial.”

About This Story

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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Lottery Mega Millions, Pick 2 Day results for Feb. 27, 2026

Published

9 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

The Pennsylvania Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

11-18-39-43-67, Mega Ball: 23

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 2 numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

Day: 4-7, Wild: 5

Evening: 8-8, Wild: 0

Check Pick 2 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

Day: 6-7-7, Wild: 5

Evening: 0-0-3, Wild: 0

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

Day: 7-2-1-4, Wild: 5

Evening: 5-7-3-1, Wild: 0

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 5 numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

Day: 8-4-5-4-4, Wild: 5

Evening: 1-1-9-8-7, Wild: 0

Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 5 numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

04-14-16-20-38

Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Treasure Hunt numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

02-04-08-13-30

Check Treasure Hunt payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Match 6 Lotto numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

10-12-23-31-33-46

Check Match 6 Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from Feb. 27 drawing

03-04-13-28-42, Bonus: 02

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Sign the Ticket: Ensure your ticket has your signature, name, address and phone number on the back.
Prizes up to $600: Claim at any PA Lottery retailer or by mail: Pennsylvania Lottery, ATTN: CLAIMS, PO BOX 8671, Harrisburg, PA 17105.
Prizes from $600 to $2,500: Use a Claim Form to claim at a retailer or by mail: Pennsylvania Lottery, ATTN: CLAIMS, PO BOX 8671, Harrisburg, PA 17105.
Prizes over $2,500: Mail your signed ticket with a Claim Form or in person at a Lottery Area Office (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Lottery Headquarters is currently not open to the public. Visit the PA Lottery website for other office locations near you.

When are the Pennsylvania Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 11 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 2, 3, 4, 5: 1:35 p.m. and 6:59 p.m. daily.
Cash4Life: 9 p.m. daily.
Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily
Cash 5: 6:59 p.m. daily.
Treasure Hunt: 1:35 p.m. daily.
Match 6 Lotto: 6:59 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
Powerball Double Play: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Pennsylvania editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Pennsylvania

Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania Helps Homeowners Protect Their Investment Across Generations » NCRC

Published

21 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania Helps Homeowners Protect Their Investment Across Generations » NCRC

For the past 17 years, the Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania (AHCOPA) has provided a range of programs designed to build wealth within low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. AHCOPA provides services to approximately 3,000 people each year via their pre-purchase, post-purchase and mortgage prevention counseling programs.

When Kenneth Bigos joined AHCOPA as their Executive Director in 2013, he set out to expand the organization’s offerings beyond first-time homeownership counseling services. He identified estate planning as an urgent need for the region’s LMI communities as well.

A 2022 Consumer Reports survey found that 77% of Black and 82% of Hispanic Americans do not have a will in place, which is needed to ensure that their home investment continues to build generational wealth. Consequently, the state court steps in upon the owner’s passing to decide how assets will be distributed, with property not being able to be transferred to an heir until that lengthy process is complete. In Philadelphia alone, there are approximately 10,000 properties with titles that have not been legally settled.

In response to this, AHCOPA launched the Will Power program in 2022 by leveraging existing relationships with pro-bono lawyers in the creation of wills and trusts for community members. The program has created an opportunity to serve a larger portion of Philadelphia’s population.

While the first-time homebuyer program initially attracted people in their mid-30s, Will Power participants are generally in their late 60s, prompting AHCOPA to think about what housing support looks like across an individual’s lifetime.

“Elderly households are more vulnerable,” Bigos said. “To reach these homeowners, we had to develop relationships with trusted agencies, such as senior centers, churches and other institutions that we would not typically work with in our first-time homebuyer program.”

As a result of that work, AHCOPA marked a major milestone in October 2025: the signing of 1,000 wills. Thanks to the success of Will Power and the first-time homebuyer program, AHCOPA has solidified its reputation as the go-to financial advisor for working-class residents.

Looking ahead, they are planning to add a new program designed to support people beyond the initial purchase of their home, which will include coaching to help owners develop their financial literacy. This would encompass how to build savings to buy a first home and avoid foreclosure in the event of a crisis.

For Bigos, NCRC membership is key to ensuring the success of these programs, especially in terms of organizing at the federal, state and local levels advocating for continued funding.

“Engaging with decision makers is very important and being an NCRC member has helped facilitate those relationships,” Bigos said. “Their support has been very impactful.”

Jesse Rhodes is a Contributing Writer.

Photo courtesy of the AHCOPA team.

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Pennsylvania

How gambling revenue helps Pennsylvania fire departments

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

How gambling revenue helps Pennsylvania fire departments

It is hard to imagine that money spent and collected at casinos and in slot machines around the state can wind up being used at local volunteer fire departments throughout the commonwealth, but it’s true.

In Pennsylvania, a portion of the state’s gaming revenue is allocated to support fire departments and emergency management services to the tune of about $30 million each year.

Departments can apply for those funds through a series of state grants, and most departments say that the money from gaming is vital to help them pay for equipment, vehicles and even improvements to their buildings.

“This time we put in for a grant to finish our second floor of our facility here,” said Derry Township Fire Chief Mark Piantine.

Piantine says that gambling revenue has purchased many things for his department in the past like swift water rescue boats as well as a new equipment washing station. Now he hopes that money can give his company a place to sleep when they are working long shifts in bad weather.

“The last storm we had, the Snowmageddon here a couple of weeks ago, we had people staying overnight,” Piantine said. “They were laying across the seats of the trucks and on the floor sleeping because our second floor is not finished.”

Piantine says every little bit helps both their department and other departments, because when it comes right down to it, running a fire department is expensive.

“When you buy a regular pair of gloves, you may pay $25 for them. We buy a pair of gloves, they’re $75 to $100,” said Piantine. “You can buy a pair of boots for $50, ours cost $600.”

Just a few miles away, in the city of Latrobe, Chief John Brasile says that while the city does a lot for them financially, gaming revenue helps a lot. It even helps them make payments on their rescue unit.

“We have about a year’s worth of payments left on it,” Brasile said. “And we use our money for debt reductions on that truck.”

“And that’s essentially from gambling revenue?” Chris DeRose asked.

“Yes. It comes from the State Fire Commissioners’ Office,” Brasile said.

“When is that truck paid off?” DeRose asked.

“About this time next year,” Brasile replied. “And then we can use that money for other stuff then. We would like to get new rescue tools for that truck and they’re expensive.”

The fire departments KDKA has spoken with about using state grant money from gambling revenue say that gambling money is great, but it is not a cure-all. And in fact, on Thursday night, the Latrobe Fire Department was holding yet another fundraising event to help them once again raise money for new fire equipment.

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