Amazon Innovation Campus (Falls Township)

Amazon's data center campus at the old Fairless steel works keeps rising as neighbors push back

Developer

NorthPoint Development, which bought the roughly 1,800-acre Keystone Trade Center in 2021, is developing the campus and leasing it to Amazon. Amazon Data Services Inc. is the applicant on the state air permits.

Tenant

Amazon Web Services is the tenant. Its role was kept confidential under a nondisclosure agreement until Amazon announced the project in June 2025.

Current stage

Under construction. AWS says the first sections of the initial 1 million square foot building should start operating in the fourth quarter of 2026, and DEP says the Phase 1 diesel emergency engines began operating in April 2026. DEP's second air permit, for 280 natural gas and three diesel backup generators, drew 1,236 comments; the comment period closed Aug. 17, and the latest reporting we found said DEP hadn't set a decision date. Gov. Shapiro's Aug. 18 executive order removed data centers, including this one, from the state's fast-track permitting program. Falls supervisors began a 180-day zoning rewrite on July 27 that doesn't affect the approved campus.

Decision body

Falls Township Board of Supervisors (land development, approved March 2025); Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (air and other state permits); Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (PECO's transmission service agreement)

Top issues

Air pollution from 280 gas-fired and three diesel backup generators in a county with poor ozone grades; cooling water draws of up to 4.4 million gallons a day at peak; electricity costs for PECO and PJM customers; generator noise; emergency planning; and how little residents were told before the March 2025 approval.

Key opponents

Falls Township residents behind a Change.org petition for a moratorium and stronger rules, which had nearly 5,000 signatures by August 2026; Food & Water Watch, which organized 407 comments asking DEP to reject the generator permit; the mayors of Bordentown and Florence Township, N.J., who spoke against the project at the July town hall; and PJM's Independent Market Monitor, which protested the PECO transmission agreement at FERC.

Key supporters

Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who both championed the project in 2025; NorthPoint Development; and PECO, which told residents its studies found no reliability problems for the area.

• 2025-05-05New Project Media reports Lotus is marketing a hyperscale data center power deal with the Fairless Energy Center sale, and that NorthPoint's case study says the plant could serve up to 600 MW at 230 kV. New Project Media
• 2025-06-09AWS announces $20B PA commitment (Falls and Salem Township) Amazon Web Services
• 2025-09-23PECO-Amazon Falls Township transmission service agreement filed at FERC FERC
• 2025-09-26Supervisors let NorthPoint subdivide a 10.5-acre Keystone Trade Center tract at Sorrells Boulevard and Energy Drive for a realignment of utilities, as reported September 26. Lower Bucks Source
• 2025-10-20PECO files a Letter of Notification with the PUC for two 230 kV line taps in Falls Township. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
• 2025-11-01PJM Independent Market Monitor protest re Falls Township PECO-Amazon FERC
• 2025-11-04PUC staff serve data requests on the filing under the title "PECO LON - Fairless Energy - Data Requests." Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
• 2025-11-12PECO replies to the PUC's data requests. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
• 2026-04-16The PUC approves the taps to a customer-owned data center next to the Ford Mill Generation Station with a 240 MW interim and 600 MW anticipated load. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
• 2026-05-21Residents behind a new petition press supervisors over the data center and ask for a town hall. Bucks County Herald
• 2026-06-17Falls residents take their objections to the Bucks County commissioners, who say the decision rests with state, federal and township officials. Bucks County Beacon
• 2026-06-22About 50 residents protest outside the township building before a packed supervisors meeting and ask for a six-month freeze on new data center applications. LevittownNow.com
• 2026-07-14Hundreds attend a nearly four-hour town hall at Pennsbury High School East on power, water, generators and noise. Bucks County Herald
• 2026-07-14PECO says the Falls Township campus's first phase was energized in June and the next phase connects directly to its high-voltage transmission system after required upgrades. PECO, posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
• 2026-07-18DEP said it would publish notice of its intent to approve the second air permit, for 280 gas and three diesel generators, opening a 30-day comment period. LevittownNow.com
• 2026-07-27Supervisors declare parts of the zoning ordinance substantively invalid, starting a 180-day rewrite of data center rules; the approved campus is not affected LevittownNow.com
• 2026-08-16Comment period closes on the air permit for 280 natural gas and three diesel backup generators; DEP received 1,236 comments Philadelphia Inquirer
• 2026-08-18An executive order removes data centers, including this campus, from the state's fast-track permitting program. Philadelphia Inquirer

• 2025-09-23
  FERC docket FERC · (filed Sept 23 2025)

  Transmission service agreement for AWS Falls Township facility.

  PECO, AWS, Bowring (IMM) · IMM protest filed Nov 1 2025; pending
• DEP air quality plan approval application (backup generators) Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Southeast Region · n/a

  Application to add 280 natural gas-fired backup generator engines of 4,287 horsepower each and three diesel generators. Amazon told DEP it would operate as a synthetic minor source, keeping nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds under 25 tons a year.

  Amazon Data Services Inc. (applicant); DEP · Comment period closed Aug. 17, 2026 with 1,236 comments; the latest reporting we found (Aug. 20) said DEP hadn't set a decision date
• 2026-07-27
  Municipal curative amendment (declaration of substantive invalidity) Falls Township Board of Supervisors · n/a

  Supervisors declared parts of the zoning ordinance substantively invalid to start a 180-day rewrite of data center rules. The township says it doesn't affect the approved Amazon campus.

  Falls Township · 180-day review under way; amendments due back to supervisors by about late January 2027
• 2025-10-20
  Letter of Notification (52 Pa. Code Chapter 57) Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission · A-2025-3058203

  Two 230 kV taps of about 0.15 and 0.16 miles from the 220-90 and 220-91 Emilie to Ford Mill lines to a customer-owned Clinker Substation and data center; about $8.13 million; PJM supplemental project s3807.

  PECO Energy Company (applicant) · Approved April 16, 2026; docket remains open until PECO files the final project cost

• 2026-09-05 Sierra Club New Jersey ChapterAmazon's Delaware River Data Center Doesn't Comply With Clean Air ActA Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter conservation leader argues DEP should count the campus's diesel and gas backup generator arrays together as one major source and asks for more monitoring and a review of the campus's Delaware River water use.
• 2026-08-20 Philadelphia InquirerCould a Bucks County Amazon data center be affected by Gov. Shapiro's order?The executive order and the pending air permit
• 2026-08-17 Food & Water Watch400+ PA Residents Tell DEP to Reject Amazon Permit for Gas-Fired Generators for Data CentersComments on the generator air permit
• 2026-07-29 Bucks County HeraldFalls to examine zoning ordinance in response to data center oppositionzoning review
• 2026-07-28 LevittownNow.comFalls Twp. Declares Part Of Zoning Ordinance 'Invalid' After Data Center OutcryCurative amendment starts a 180-day rewrite
• 2026-07-15 LevittownNow.comTensions Flare At Falls Twp. Town Hall Over Amazon Data CenterFour-hour town hall; first 1M sq ft building operational Q4 2026
• 2026-07-15 Bucks County HeraldData center opponents speak out against Falls site during town hall meetingtown hall
• 2026-07-11 Lower Bucks TimesAmazon Is Handing $150,000 to Bucks County Groups as Its Falls Township Data Center Splits the NeighborhoodCommunity fund grants amid opposition; project more than half built
• 2026-06-27 Bucks County BeaconCORRECTIONS & UPDATE: Falls Township Residents Share Concerns and Frustrations Over AI Data Center at Bucks County Commissioners Meetingcounty commissioners meeting
• 2026-06-23 LevittownNow.comFalls Twp. Residents Protest Amazon Data Center Ahead Of Public Meetingprotest and demands
• 2026-06-03 Bucks County HeraldMore than 3,100 sign petition opposing Falls Township data centerresident petition
• 2026-05-27 Bucks County BeaconFalls Township Residents Say They Were Left in the Dark Throughout Data Center Planning ProcessAug 2024 ZHB noise variance was the first public sign of a data center
• 2026-05-19 LevittownNow.comFalls Twp. Residents Push Back Against Under Construction Data CenterOfficials say no moratorium authority exists under state law; 900-signature petition
• 2026-02-04 LevittownNow.comWith Data Center Being Built In Falls Twp., Governor Calls For Standards Amid GrowthShapiro's Responsible Infrastructure Development standards announced in budget address
• 2025-09-26 Lower Bucks SourceFalls Township OKs Minor Subdivision for North PointNorthPoint subdivides a tract at Sorrells Boulevard and Energy Drive for a realignment of utilities.
• 2025-05-05 New Project MediaM&A: Lotus Infrastructure marketing hyperscale data center PPA in natural gas portfolio sale; final bids due later this monthTies a possible hyperscale power deal at the Fairless Energy Center to NorthPoint's Keystone Trade Center data centers.