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Contested

Lower Mount Bethel Tech Center

Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County

Peron Development and J.G. Petrucci propose a data center campus expected to exceed $5 billion on Lower Mount Bethel farmland, without disclosing building count, size, layout or end user.

ContestedGreenfieldLV
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusProposed
Site450 acres
First announced2024
Target onlineTBD

A five billion dollar campus on farmland, and a meeting the township did not call

The number that mattersThe only public meeting on a project expected to cost more than $5 billion was organized by the developers rather than the township, and it disclosed neither the number of buildings nor the end user.
Developer
Peron Development and J.G. Petrucci Co.
Tenant
Undisclosed
Current stage
Proposed. The only public session so far was an informational meeting organized by the developers at Bangor Area Middle School in May 2026, where residents packed the room in opposition.
Decision body
Lower Mount Bethel Township
Top issues
Farmland conversion and community identity; no disclosed building count, size or layout; undisclosed end user; water supply; regional grid load
Key opponents
Lower Mount Bethel residents; farmland preservation advocates

Peron Development + J.G. Petrucci Co. Adjacent to Talen Martins Creek plant. Cooling water is drawn from the Delaware River under DRBC and DEP regulation rather than from groundwater. Petition >6,000 signatures; bald-eagle habitat concerns. Township amended zoning 2024 to allow. Peron's John Callahan (former Bethlehem Mayor) led town hall April 2026. Opposition: Todd & Heather Rehrig. Review March 17 2026.

What is at stake

Documented community impacts

Air quality

High

Greenfield gas turbine project adjacent to residential area.

Energy costs and the grid

High

Petition >6,000 signatures organized by Rehrig family.

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

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

Water

Medium

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

WFMZ

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
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Lower Mount Bethel residents

Township ยท 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 in May 2026 and delivered near-uniform opposition to a project whose basic parameters the developers had not disclosed.

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2026-03-17Lower Mt Bethel review
  • 2026-05-21Residents pack a three-hour informational session at Bangor Area Middle School organized by the developers, delivering overwhelming opposition and rejecting the premise that farmland is empty land awaiting a more profitable use. Building count, sizes, end user and layout remain undisclosed WFMZ
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

Know your rights

In Pennsylvania, a data center on industrial land usually needs a special exception or conditional use, decided by a local Zoning Hearing Board after a public, quasi-judicial hearing. Neighbors can request party status, cross-examine witnesses, and build an evidentiary record. Municipalities can also write 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 ask your municipality for a moratorium and a real ordinance.

How communities push back →