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South Huntingdon Data Center (Route 31, Stanton Farm)

South Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County

A Sewickley energy firm applied in May for a land use permit to build a data center warehouse on 178 acres near the I-70 interchange, about a mile from a gas-fired power plant. The landowner says it's in the early stages.

ContestedLargeTBD/UndisclosedGreenfieldSW
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusApplication Filed
Building area1,000,000 sq ft
Site178 acres
Capex$ 0.025 B
First announced2026-05

TriEnergy files for a $25 million, 1 million-square-foot data center on Route 31 farmland in South Huntingdon

The number that mattersThe site is about a mile from the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station, a natural gas power plant, and the landowner declined to say whether the data center would tap into its power.
Developer
TriEnergy Inc. of Sewickley (managing member F. William Humphrey) filed the township land use permit application. A DEP application to fill streams for a 1 million-square-foot warehouse on the site was filed in February 2025 by Douglas Sippel at the Zelienople address DEP lists for Sippel Development, which Marcellus Drilling News also names as a developer.
Tenant
No tenant or end user has been named. TriEnergy's township application describes a 1 million-square-foot warehouse building to house a data center, and the landowner says the project is in the "early, early stages."
Current stage
Land use permit application filed in May 2026 and reported publicly Oct. 12 to 13, 2026. TribLive reported on Oct. 19, 2026 that the township still hadn't reviewed the land development plan because DEP hadn't approved a sewage permit. DEP is also reviewing a Chapter 105 application (E6505225-014) to fill about 2,163 feet of small streams for the warehouse, published for comment June 13, 2026. We found no decision on it through the October 17, 2026 Pennsylvania Bulletin, and the project wasn't on DEP's list of data centers under review as of Oct. 19.
Decision body
South Huntingdon Township Board of Supervisors (under the Sept. 17, 2026 data center ordinance), with site plan review by the Westmoreland County Planning Division and a sewage permit from the Pennsylvania DEP.
Top issues
Possible tie to the nearby Tenaska gas power plant; the township has no zoning or subdivision and land development ordinance; the 500-foot setback, which residents see as too small; wastewater and sewage permitting; filling about 2,163 feet of small streams that feed Lick Run; storage of bulk ammonia used in data center operations; truck traffic near the I-70 interchange; and effects on livestock and farms.
Key opponents
No organized opposition group, website or petition focused on South Huntingdon has been found. Residents who packed the Sept. 17, 2026 township meeting voiced strong opposition to any data center in the township, some shouted for the supervisors to table the ordinance, and some said the 500-foot setback isn't enough.
Key supporters
No public supporters have been identified in coverage or records we reviewed.

How we got here

Stanton Farm LLC acquired 178 acres along Route 31 in September 2021. In January 2025 the Westmoreland Conservation District approved a wastewater discharge permit for a warehouse on the site, a permit that runs to December 2029. In February 2025 DEP received an application filed by Douglas Sippel of Zelienople to fill about 2,163 feet of unnamed tributaries to Lick Run for a 1 million-square-foot warehouse with semi-trailer parking. TriEnergy and Stanton Farm signed a three-year agreement for the project in October 2025, and TriEnergy applied for a township land use permit in May 2026. DEP published notice of the stream application on June 13, 2026. On Sept. 17, 2026, supervisors unanimously adopted a 12-section data center ordinance while residents shouted for them to table it. The Pittsburgh Business Journal reported the proposal on Oct. 12, 2026, TribLive followed with details from the application on Oct. 13, and Marcellus Drilling News reported on Oct. 14 that the plans filed with the township don't say where the electricity will come from. On Oct. 19 TribLive reported the township still hadn't reviewed the plan because DEP hadn't approved the sewage permit.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Energy costs and the grid

Medium

The site is about a mile from the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station, a natural gas power plant. Neither the landowner nor Tenaska would say whether the data center would draw on it.

TribLive

Visual and light

Medium

The township ordinance requires a 500-foot setback from property lines with evergreen woodland or an opaque barrier to block views. Residents said 500 feet isn't enough, and the township's special counsel said larger setbacks probably aren't enforceable without zoning.

TribLive

Water

Medium

A wastewater discharge permit for a warehouse was approved in January 2025, and DEP has not yet approved a sewage permit for the data center project.

TribLive

Noise and vibration

Medium

The ordinance caps daytime and nighttime sound levels and light from the facility. A cattle farmer at the Sept. 17 meeting asked that developers pay for a study of effects on farm animals.

TribLive

Water

Medium

The developer's DEP application would permanently fill about 2,163 linear feet of five small unnamed tributaries to Lick Run and 0.09 acre of floodway for the building and parking. It proposes buying stream mitigation credits from the Laurel Hill Creek Mitigation Bank to make up for the loss.

Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 24

Traffic

Medium

The DEP application describes semi-trailer parking, employee parking and a driveway for the one-million-square-foot building along Mt. Pleasant Road (Route 31).

Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 24

Public safety

Medium

The township's Sept. 17, 2026 data center ordinance requires a secondary facility for storing bulk ammonia used in data center operations, along with an environmental impact assessment, according to TribLive.

TribLive
Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2021-09Stanton Farm acquired 178 acres along Route 31, according to the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds. TribLive
  • 2025-01The conservation district approved a wastewater discharge permit for a warehouse on the site, with no mention of a data center. TribLive
  • 2025-02-10DEP received an application to fill about 2,163 feet of small streams for a 1 million-square-foot warehouse with semi-trailer parking on the site. Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 24
  • 2025-10TriEnergy and Stanton Farm signed a three-year agreement for the project. TribLive
  • 2026-05TriEnergy applied to South Huntingdon Township for a land use permit for a $25 million, 1 million-square-foot data center building. TribLive
  • 2026-06-13DEP published notice of the stream encroachment application (E6505225-014), opening a 30-day comment period. Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 24
  • 2026-09-17Supervisors unanimously adopted a data center ordinance with a 500-foot setback, screening, light and noise limits, and an environmental impact assessment. TribLive
  • 2026-10-13TribLive reported the application details, and the landowner said the project is in the early stages. TribLive
  • 2026-10-14Marcellus Drilling News named Sippel Development and TriEnergy as the developers and reported the plans don't say where the electricity will come from. Marcellus Drilling News
  • 2026-10-19TribLive reports the township still hasn't reviewed the land development plan submitted in May because DEP hasn't approved a sewage permit. TribLive
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2025-02-10
    Chapter 105 water obstruction and encroachment permit application Pennsylvania DEP Southwest Regional Office, Waterways and Wetlands Program · E6505225-014

    Would permanently fill about 2,163 linear feet of unnamed tributaries to Lick Run and 0.09 acre of floodway and add a 40-foot culvert to build a one-million-square-foot warehouse, semi-trailer and employee parking, a driveway, utilities and stormwater facilities, with mitigation credits from the Laurel Hill Creek Mitigation Bank.

    Douglas Sippel, 174 Tomlinson Drive, Zelienople · Pending; no DEP decision published through October 17, 2026
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 →