Taylor Township plans meeting on proposed data center
Taylor Township to discuss proposed facility that could be built at former mill
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Taylor Township will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in the Roaring Spring Fire Hall on a proposed amendment to the township's subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO) designed to ensure that a proposed data center for the former Appvion paper mill site will not cause problems for the community.
The current SALDO doesn't directly address data centers, but the amended one would regulate a host of potential issues -- most importantly centers' use of water and electricity and the noise they produce, issues that have made data centers a controversial topic nationwide, according to a legal notice published by the township and supervisors Chairman Jerome Dodson.
Terawatt Data Centers, headquartered in New York City, is interested in the 330-acre property, but has not formally applied for land development, according to Dodson and township solicitor Patrick Fanelli.
The amended ordinance would need to be adopted before such a formal application is made in order for the amended ordinance regulations to apply to the project -- otherwise the current ordinance would apply, on the grandfather principle of government regulation, according to Fanelli.
Dodson seems confident that the proposed data center project would be an acceptable community addition.
The now-demolished paper mill used 5.5 million gallons of water a day, while the proposed data center would use vastly less to cool its computers with a closed-loop cooling system, with likely consumption between 10,000 to 15,000 gallons a day, according to Dodson and a Q&A on the township website.
Based on an Aug. 18 executive order from Gov. Josh Shapiro, data center developers now need to cover the cost of additional electric power infrastructure necessitated by their projects, according to Dodson and the order itself, which is copied on the township website.
The "large load tariff" provision of the order requires that customers with massive electricity demands "pay upfront for infrastructure upgrades" needed for their projects but otherwise not needed, according to an online source.
"Terawatt will pay for all extension(s) related with transmission upgrades and on-site substation construction," the Q&A states.
Terawatt plans to build the data center to the rear of the main mill site, in a spot surrounded by woods, and will use insulation, sound barriers and berms to keep noise down, according to Dodson.
It would be quieter than the mill was, Dodson said.
The center would produce 70 decibels -- not to exceed 100, according to the Q&A.
Seventy decibels is about what a vacuum cleaner makes, or freeway traffic from 50 feet away, according to an online scale.
The developer is proposing to install 80 backup electricity generators, equipped with scrubbers and "sound attenuation," according to the Q&A.
The developer is expected to make a 10- to 15-year commitment, according to the Q&A.
Total investment is expected to be at least $1.5 billion, according to the Q&A.
The developer will create a community park on site, closer to the street, according to Dodson.
That is a requirement of the current owner, Dodson said.
No public officials will be signing non-disclosure agreements for the project, according to the Q&A.
The proposed SALDO amendment would include regulations on the brightness of the outdoor lighting, according to Dodson.
Other development characteristics that would be regulated include building height, setbacks, parking, off-street loading, safety, perimeter fencing, buffer yards and screening, building color, sewer service, emergency response and decommissioning, according to the legal notice.
There will be no tax abatement provided for the development, according to the Q&A.
There will be about 50 permanent jobs, according to Dodson, most of which would involve security.
The developers are being cooperative, and are trying to assuage resident concerns, according to Dodson and Fanelli.
Conversely, "It's our intention to be reasonable (with them)," Fanelli said.
Residents' concerns are "legitimate," Dodson said.
But many of those relate to data centers constructed under prior regulations, when those centers used far more water than newer versions use now, when their construction led to the need for additions to the electrical grid that the public had to pay for and when the noise was unabated, he said.
After municipal approvals are given, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency would review the data center proposal for compliance, Dodson said.
"There will be a lot of eyes on this," he said.
The supervisors will hold their regular meeting Monday.
There will be no discussion at that time of the data center issues.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.