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In a significant move that could reshape the landscape of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, PPL Corp. has entered into an agreement to purchase over 11 square miles of land from local businessman Dominick DeNaples. The land, which includes areas bordering a critical public drinking water source, is being eyed for the construction of at least two massive power plants designed to support data centers.
The joint venture between PPL Corp. and Blackstone Infrastructure has already signed agreements to acquire nearly 7,200 acres across various towns in Lackawanna County, including Archbald, Carbondale, and Mayfield. The joint venture has also filed requests to add 2.25 gigawatts of natural gas power plants to the county's energy infrastructure. While the exact locations of the power plants remain unspecified, the timing of these requests coincides with a memorandum to purchase land for a "west campus" in Carbondale Twp. and an "east campus" spanning from Archbald to the Brownell Reservoir in Carbondale Twp.
The proposed data center power plants have sparked immediate opposition from local residents and officials. Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, a vocal critic of data center development, expressed his frustration, stating, "Our county should not be offered up as the sacrificial lamb of the AI revolution that is occurring in this country, and it's absolutely disgraceful what's happening here."
Despite the backlash, PPL Corp. spokesman Ryan Hill confirmed that the venture has secured the rights to purchase land in Lackawanna County for evaluating the suitability for power generation for data centers. However, he emphasized that acquiring large swaths of land does not equate to immediate development. "The benefit of having large sites is that they provide that flexibility for setbacks, buffers, open space, green space, other considerations for a project such as a generation project," Hill said.
Over the past year-and-a-half, Lackawanna County has become a focal point for speculative data center development, with around 90 proposed data centers in the pipeline. Despite some developers scaling back their plans, the county remains a hotbed for such projects. PPL Corp.'s venture with Blackstone Infrastructure now aims to support these data centers with potential power plants in northern Lackawanna County.
The same venture previously purchased over 500 acres in Luzerne County for $40.4 million and filed for two natural gas power plants with outputs of 1,500 and 750 megawatts, according to an interconnection request queue. Gaughan argues that the rush for data centers and power plants in Lackawanna County is "exploitation to a degree that we have never seen before."
Hill, however, maintains that the joint venture will not proceed with a power plant unless they have a signed agreement with a large customer. "If we decide to move forward with the project, we're absolutely committed to engaging transparently with the local officials, stakeholders, the community," he said. "Our focus is delivering reliability, affordability, and local benefits."
The power plants would contract with a large customer rather than sell to the grid to avoid market volatility, though they would still be connected to the electric grid. PPL Corp. is distinct from PPL Electric Utilities, and utility ratepayers will not be responsible for the developments, Hill added.
Despite the preliminary nature of the developments, there is a sense of urgency in the air. The 1,500-megawatt plant has a requested in-service date of Jan. 1, 2033, and the 750-megawatt plant's requested in-service date is Jan. 1, 2034, according to PJM data.
As the debate over data center development and power plants continues to unfold in Lackawanna County, the future of the region's energy infrastructure hangs in the balance.
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