Nescopeck Township, Luzerne County
A 'Nescopeck / Valley View Wood' data center appears on DEP's tracker with no permit applications, months after township supervisors limited where data centers can go and an attorney for a data center warned of a legal fight.
On Dec. 11, 2025, Nescopeck Township supervisors passed an ordinance limiting where data centers can be built, and the Press Enterprise reported that an attorney for a data center warned of a legal fight. In February 2026, WVIA reported PPL's plan for a new Nescopeck Switchyard in the township as the starting point of its Sugarloaf transmission line to Hazle Township, and on Feb. 12 State Rep. Jamie Walsh told the Luzerne County Planning Commission he had confirmed data center applications or land purchase offers in Nescopeck and six other townships. In neighboring Nescopeck Borough, more than 50 residents objected to a draft data center overlay on May 18, 2026, and on June 15 the borough council voted to acknowledge that its zoning doesn't address data centers, starting a 180-day window to write rules. DEP's permit tracker lists the township project as proposed with no applications as of October 22, 2026.
PPL plans a new Nescopeck Switchyard in the township, near its existing Sunbury-Susquehanna lines, as one end of a 12-mile line through Nescopeck, Black Creek, Sugarloaf and Hazle townships that's built for 500 kilovolts and would start at 230 kilovolts. No public record ties the switchyard to this data center.
WVIA NewsAt a May 2026 meeting in neighboring Nescopeck Borough, residents warned about Susquehanna River withdrawals during drought and whether Pennsylvania American Water's system can serve more data centers on top of Amazon's in Salem Township. The project's own water use is unknown.
FOX56 (WOLF)Leaders: John Zola, founder
Tactics: Petition, testimony at township meetings and Public Utility Commission hearings
The petition form shows 327 offline signatures; it targets the PPL line, which would start at a planned switchyard in Nescopeck Township.
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 →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 →