Newport Township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania has issued zoning permits for a development that includes 15 closed-loop data centers and three gas generation facilities, township manager Joe Hillan announced at a recent commissioners' meeting. Seven of the data centers would be located in a mixed-use zone and eight in an industrial zone, according to permits issued by third-party zoning officer Jason Humenanski of BHW Construction Consultation Services, Inc. The landowner, situated between the township's Glen Lyon and Lee sections, is still in negotiations with the developer, and financial details have not been disclosed. Commissioner President Paul Czapracki said the project would be a significant revenue source for Newport Township, the surrounding South Valley area, and the Greater Nanticoke Area School District.
The scale of the proposal, 15 data centers paired with three dedicated gas generation facilities, signals a model where large data center campuses bring their own power supply rather than drawing from existing grid capacity, a direct response to utility constraints that have slowed projects elsewhere. The township's decision to allow data centers by right in mixed-use districts through its newly drafted zoning ordinance shows how some municipalities are moving to actively attract this infrastructure rather than restrict it.
A single township issuing permits for 15 data centers simultaneously is an unusually large batch approval that signals concentrated industrial development and potential community impact, not covered in the already-published list.