Energy costs and the grid
HighAt the August 2025 information session the developers said PPL had committed 1.5 gigawatts of power to the Blakely project.
Blakely Borough
All Pennsylvania projects
Withdrawn / Denied
Blakely Borough Data Center (early stage)
Blakely Borough, Lackawanna County
A 209-acre data center campus proposed in 2025 for mostly residential-zoned land behind West Mountain Road in Blakely Borough, Lackawanna County, which the developers withdrew in September 2025 after residents organized against it.
Withdrawn / DeniedMega scaleGrid HyperscaleGreenfieldNEPA
At a glance
The project by the numbers
StatusWithdrawn
Capacity1500 MW
Building area586,000 sq ft
Site209 acres
First announced2025-08-04
Target onlineTBD
Blakely data center withdrawn in 2025; borough has since written strict data center rules
The number that mattersThe developers said PPL had committed 1.5 gigawatts of power to the Blakely site shortly before the August 2025 information session.
- Developer
- Jim Marzolino, president of Kriger Construction, and the landowner, who filed as the applicant, presenting themselves as co-developers. Michael Mey of Mey & Sulla in Dunmore represented them.
- Tenant
- No end user was named before the project was withdrawn.
- Current stage
- Withdrawn in September 2025. Since then Blakely adopted a data center overlay in November 2025, re-adopted its zoning ordinance in September 2026, and in October 2026 took up rules for connecting large power users to the borough's own electric system. Officials said in November 2025 that no developer had contacted them about a new proposal.
- Decision body
- Blakely Borough Council, with review by the Blakely Borough Planning Commission.
- Top issues
- Putting a data center on land zoned for homes, air pollution and health worries, round-the-clock noise, water and electricity use, tree clearing on the hillside, and the borough's role as the local electric provider.
- Key opponents
- Blakely residents, especially the roughly 30 households nearest the site, who ran a door-to-door petition and delivered it to council on Sept. 15, 2025.
- Key supporters
- The developers, who said the project would bring more than $121 million a year in local utility fees and taxes, about 500 construction jobs and well-paid permanent jobs.
How we got here
Aug. 4, 2025: rezoning request goes to the planning commission. Aug. 13, 2025: public information session with the developers. Sept. 7, 2025: residents collect petition signatures. Sept. 12, 2025: developers withdraw. Sept. 15, 2025: petition presented to council; the Sept. 16 hearing is canceled. Nov. 17, 2025: council unanimously adopts a data center overlay. Sept. 21, 2026: council re-adopts the zoning ordinance with amendments. Oct. 19, 2026: council takes up large-load electric interconnection rules.
What is at stake
Impacts raised and open questions
Visual and light
MediumThe plan called for a 586,000-square-foot building footprint with buildings up to 70 feet tall on a wooded hillside, with fence lines 470 to 620 feet from homes, according to the developers.
Blakely BoroughAir quality
MediumResidents circulating the petition said the campus would sit 400 to 500 feet from their homes and raised concerns about air particles, noise and pollution.
FOX56 (WOLF)Jobs and tax claims
MediumThe developers projected about 500 construction jobs over two to four years and more than $121 million a year in local utility fees and property taxes for the borough, Valley View School District and county.
FOX56 (WOLF)Community response
Who is organizing against it
Blakely Borough residents
Tactics: Door-to-door petition (more than 300 signatures by Sept. 7, 2025), organizing in local forums, meetings and visible protests, pressure on borough leaders not to grant an additional developer forum
One of Pennsylvania's clearest early wins. Borough leaders declined the developers' request for another informational meeting, the developers withdrew on Sept. 12, 2025, and the Sept. 16 zoning hearing was canceled.
Blakely residents' petition drive
Tactics: Petition signing at the Blakely Recreation Complex and door to door; delivered to council Sept. 15, 2025
FOX56 reported more than 300 signatures by Sept. 7, 2025, and later said all but one of about 30 nearest homes signed.
Timeline
How it has unfolded
- 2025-08-04Rezoning request for an AI data center on land behind the Assembly of God Church goes before Blakely's planning commission. Blakely Borough
- 2025-08-13Developers present a 209-acre plan with a 586,000-square-foot footprint and 70-foot buildings at a public information session. Blakely Borough
- 2025-09-07Volunteers collect more than 300 petition signatures against rezoning the residential site. FOX56 (WOLF)
- 2025-09-12Developers withdraw the zoning request, saying the borough declined to schedule a second informational meeting. FOX56 (WOLF)
- 2025-09-15Petition and letters on the data center are presented to council; the Sept. 16 zoning hearing is canceled. Blakely Borough
- 2025-11-17Council unanimously approves a zoning overlay that sets rules for any future data center. FOX56 (WOLF)
- 2026-09-21Council is scheduled to pass the updated zoning ordinance with amendments, adopted as Ordinance 8 of 2026. Blakely Borough
- 2026-10-19Council agenda includes Ordinance 9 of 2026 on rules for connecting large-load customers to the borough electric system. Blakely Borough
News
Coverage of this project
- 2025-11-17 FOX56Blakely Borough council approves zoning overlay for data centers after months of debateNew overlay rules
- 2025-09-19 Data Center WatchBlakely, PA residents block 209-acre data center projectPetition, canceled zoning hearing, and the procedural opening that ended the project
- 2025-09-15 FOX56Blakely Borough data center plans scrapped amid community pushback, Borough respondsBorough response; site clearing
- 2025-09-12 FOX56Blakely data center developers withdraw zoning requestWithdrawal
- 2025-09-07 FOX56Blakely Borough residents rally against proposed data center in residential areaPetition drive
- 2025-08-12 WVIA NewsAnswers still needed after hearing in Lackawanna County for data center development in Pa.Blakely among county proposals
Sources
- Planning Commission agenda, Aug. 4, 2025 (Atty. Michael Mey for the landowner, rezoning for an AI data center)
- August 2025 council minutes, including the transcript of the Blakely Data Center Public Information Session, Aug. 13, 2025
- Blakely Borough residents rally against proposed data center in residential area
- Blakely data center developers withdraw zoning request
- Council meeting agenda, Sept. 15, 2025 (petition and letters on the proposed data center)
- Blakely Borough council approves zoning overlay for data centers after months of debate
- Council work session agenda, Sept. 16, 2026 (updated zoning ordinance for passage Sept. 21; large load interconnection)
- Council meeting agenda, Oct. 19, 2026 (Ordinance 9 of 2026, large load interconnection rules)
Know your rights
In Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.
Know your rights →Take action
Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.
How communities push back →