All Pennsylvania projects
Contested

Lower Mount Bethel Tech Center

Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County

Peron Development and J.G. Petrucci Co. pitched a campus they said would cost more than $5 billion and draw 1.2 gigawatts. After strong opposition they're now asking the township to rezone about 239 acres beside Talen's power plants from agricultural to industrial.

ContestedGrid HyperscaleMixedLV
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusApplication Filed
Capacity1200 MW
Site239 acres
Capex$ 5 B
Permanent jobs, as claimed500
First announced2026-02-25
Target online2026

Developers shrink their Lower Mount Bethel data center plan and ask to rezone a quarry and farm fields next to the power plants

The number that mattersThe developers' panel promised $7 million to $8 million a year in tax revenue to a township whose entire annual revenue is about $550,000.
Developer
Peron Development and J.G. Petrucci Co., with former Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan, Peron's director of business development, as spokesman. The rezoning petition was filed by Martins Creek LLC, Triple Net Investments XCIX LLC, RCM Properties XV LLC, Rt 173 Investments Partners I LLC and PD 6411 MBH LLC. Talen Energy and CBRE representatives sat on the developers' April town hall panel.
Tenant
No end user. The developers said at their April 2026 town hall and again in May that they have none.
Current stage
Rezoning petition filed. On Sept. 14, 2026 supervisors adopted the township's data center rules (Ordinance 2026-01) and accepted a petition to rezone about 239 acres from Agricultural Preservation to Industrial, sending it to the township and Lehigh Valley planning commissions. The township planning commission was set to review it Oct. 20, but that was postponed at the applicant's request. No conditional use or land development application has been filed.
Decision body
Lower Mount Bethel Township Board of Supervisors (rezoning and conditional use), with review by the township Planning Commission and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
Top issues
Loss of farmland and the area's scenic byway, a bald eagle nest near the site, noise on top of existing complaints about the power plants, water and the Delaware River, electricity costs, an undisclosed end user, nondisclosure agreements township officials signed with Talen Energy, and trust in the process after the township's solicitor resigned and disclosed that he had occasionally represented a partner in the Peron joint venture.
Key opponents
No Data Center In LMBT, a residents' group co-founded by Todd and Heather Rehrig, and a Change.org petition against the project that passed 5,000 signatures by early March 2026, according to WFMZ. About three dozen residents spoke at the April 9 town hall and none supported the project, and a survey by the township's Environmental Advisory Council found strong opposition to data centers.
Key supporters
Peron Development, J.G. Petrucci Co. and Talen Energy, which told the township it would sell power to whatever customer comes to a data center campus. Supervisors have said they won't rezone farmland for a data center, though Supervisor David Ascani, now the board chairman, said in April he isn't against one on land already zoned industrial.

How we got here

Supervisors reported an informational meeting with the developer on Feb. 2, 2026, and Peron and J.G. Petrucci confirmed the project on Feb. 25. The developers held a three-hour town hall at Bangor Area Middle School on April 9, where no speaker supported the plan. In May township officials met with Peron's John Callahan and Talen and said they had no interest in rezoning farmland. At the June 1 meeting the township solicitor explained his resignation, citing the controversy, and said he had occasionally represented a partner in the Peron joint venture. Supervisors held a public hearing on a data center ordinance on Aug. 17 before about 200 people, and adopted Ordinance 2026-01 on Sept. 14. The same night they accepted a petition to rezone about 239 acres near the power plants. The planning commission's Oct. 20 review was postponed at the applicant's request.

Update, October 26, 2026. On October 19, 2026 Supervisor John Mauser presented a report on data center tours and Talen's nearby power plants at the supervisors' workshop. It included an email from a Talen representative saying Talen would sell power to whichever customer comes into a data center campus and hasn't decided where that power would come from. The planning commission's October 20 agenda listed a discussion of a possible amendment to Ordinance 2026-1, the data center ordinance, while the rezoning petition was held for rescheduling at the applicant's request.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Air quality

High

Greenfield gas turbine project adjacent to residential area.

Environmental justice and site legacy

High

A campus expected to exceed $5 billion proposed on preserved-character farmland in rural Northampton County, in a township whose identity residents describe as agricultural.

WFMZ-TV 69 News

Energy costs and the grid

High

A project of this scale adds major load in the PPL territory already absorbing the Lehigh Valley data center buildout.

WFMZ-TV 69 News

Energy costs and the grid

High

The developers put the campus at 1.2 gigawatts. They said Talen would supply the power, PPL would provide transmission and the data center owner would pay for grid upgrades, and Callahan told residents their electricity bills wouldn't go up.

WFMZ-TV 69 News

Water

Medium

Residents raised water supply among their concerns; the developers have not disclosed consumption figures.

WFMZ-TV 69 News

Public safety

Medium

The only public session was organized by the developers rather than the township, and disclosed neither building count nor end user.

WFMZ-TV 69 News

Noise and vibration

Medium

Ordinance 2026-01 caps data center sound at the property line at 40 dBA (50 dBC) from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and 45 dBA (55 dBC) during the day, and bars routine generator testing from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Lower Mount Bethel Township

Water

Medium

The developers now say the campus would use closed-loop cooling filled with trucked-in water and wouldn't draw groundwater or Delaware River water for cooling. The township's ordinance requires a water supply study and proof of any Delaware River Basin Commission approvals.

Lower Mount Bethel Technology Center

Jobs and tax claims

Medium

The developers estimated 500 full-time jobs plus hundreds of construction jobs, and $7 million to $8 million a year in tax revenue compared with the township's current annual revenue of about $550,000.

WFMZ-TV 69 News

Visual and light

Medium

The revised plan would rezone about 100 farmed acres, a 102-acre quarry and other undeveloped land beside the power plants for industrial use. The developers promise dark-sky lighting, sound walls, screening and planted buffers.

Lower Mount Bethel Technology Center

Property values

Low

At the Sept. 14, 2026 meeting, residents living near Talen's plants said they already measure 61 to 63 dBA from the plants, asked how the ordinance's lower limits would be enforced, and worried that added data center noise would hurt property values and private wells.

Lower Mount Bethel Township
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Lower Mount Bethel residents

Township · Founded 2026

Tactics: Turnout at informational sessions, public comment demanding building counts, end-user identity and layout plans, farmland preservation advocacy

Residents filled a three-hour session at Bangor Area Middle School on April 9, 2026 and delivered near-uniform opposition to a project whose basic parameters the developers had not disclosed.

No Data Center In LMBT

Lower Mount Bethel Township

Leaders: Todd and Heather Rehrig, co-founders (per WFMZ)

Tactics: Public education, turnout and questions at township meetings and hearings, fundraising

A separate Change.org petition against the project had just under 4,600 signatures on Feb. 25, 2026 and more than 5,000 in early March, according to WFMZ. The group's Instagram is instagram.com/stopthedatacenterinlmbt.

Website · Facebook

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2026-02-02Supervisors report they held an informational meeting with the developer about a potential data center. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-02-25The developers confirm in a news release that they're working together on a data center campus and launch a project website. WFMZ-TV 69 News
  • 2026-03-17Lower Mt Bethel review
  • 2026-04-09A developer-run town hall at Bangor Area Middle School lays out a $5 billion-plus, 1.2-gigawatt plan with no end user; no resident speaks in favor. WFMZ-TV 69 News
  • 2026-05-18Officials report meeting with Peron's John Callahan and Talen about putting the campus in a quarry and say they have no interest in rezoning farmland. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-06-01The township solicitor explains his resignation, citing the data center controversy, and discloses past work for a partner in the Peron joint venture. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-07-23Records show township supervisors and the former manager signed nondisclosure agreements with Talen Energy, which Talen never signed and returned; Peron says it is shrinking the campus toward the power plants. WFMZ-TV 69 News
  • 2026-08-14The LVPC finds the draft data center ordinance generally consistent with the regional plan but flags several provisions for legal review. Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
  • 2026-08-17About 200 people attend the public hearing on the data center ordinance; Peron's John Callahan says the campus would sit south of Martins Creek Belvidere Highway. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-09-14Supervisors adopt Ordinance 2026-01, the township's data center rules, by a 5-0 vote. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-09-14Supervisors accept a petition to rezone three parcels near the power plants from Agricultural Preservation to Industrial and refer it to the planning commissions. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-10-05Supervisors hear from the township engineer that the planning commission will take up the rezoning petition and that a review letter was sent to the commission. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-10-19Supervisor John Mauser presents a report on data center tours and Talen's power plants, including a Talen representative's email saying Talen would sell power to whichever customer comes into a data center campus and that the power source hasn't been determined. Lower Mount Bethel Township
  • 2026-10-20The planning commission's review of the rezoning petition is postponed at the applicant's request. Lower Mount Bethel Township
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2026-09-14
    Petition to amend zoning map Lower Mount Bethel Township Board of Supervisors · n/a

    Asks supervisors to rezone parcel G11-3-3 (about 103.5 acres owned by Martins Creek LLC, of which 58.1 acres would be rezoned), parcel G11-3-7 (an active quarry of about 101.9 acres) and parcel G11-3-6 (about 78.6 acres owned by PPL Electric Utilities) from Agricultural Preservation to Industrial, citing their location next to the Lower Mount Bethel power plant. The date shown is when supervisors acknowledged receiving it.

    Martins Creek LLC; Triple Net Investments XCIX LLC; RCM Properties XV LLC; Rt 173 Investments Partners I LLC; PD 6411 MBH LLC · Referred to the township and Lehigh Valley planning commissions; township planning commission review set for Oct. 20, 2026 was postponed at the applicant's request
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

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 →