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Active / Approved

Susquehanna / Cumulus AWS Hyperscale Campus

Salem Township, Luzerne County

Amazon Web Services bought Talen Energy's data center campus beside the Susquehanna nuclear plant in 2024 and is building it out on about 1,200 acres toward as many as 20 data centers, powered under a deal with Talen for up to 1,920 megawatts.

Active / ApprovedMega scaleCo-located NuclearGreenfieldNEPA
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusUnder Construction
Capacity1920 MW
Site1200 acres
Water (max)0.129 MGD
Permanent jobs, as claimed1,000
First announced2024-03
Target online2025-2042 ramp

Amazon's nuclear-powered campus in Salem Township is under construction

The number that mattersAmazon's Salem Township campus was the first data center to win a water approval from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which cut its request for 277,000 gallons a day down to 129,000.
Developer
Amazon Data Services, Inc., part of Amazon Web Services, owns and is building the campus. Talen Energy started the campus, then called Cumulus, in 2021 and sold it to AWS for $650 million in March 2024, according to World Nuclear News.
Tenant
Amazon owns the campus and uses it for its own cloud and AI computing. Its power comes from Talen's Susquehanna Steam Electric Station under a June 2025 agreement for up to 1,920 megawatts through 2042, which Talen says reaches full volume no later than 2032.
Current stage
Amazon describes the campus as under active construction, and its project page dates the construction start to October 2025, while the Altoona Mirror reports work on the first three buildings began in 2024. The river basin commission approved more water use in March 2026, while DEP's permit records still show a discharge permit for cooling water and an air quality plan approval pending. The state removed the project from its Fast Track permitting list in August 2026.
Decision body
Salem Township Board of Supervisors handles zoning and land development, and it created the Special Data Center Overlay District for Amazon in May 2024. DEP and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission issue the state and regional permits, FERC and PJM oversee the power arrangement, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has Talen's challenge to FERC's 2024 ruling.
Top issues
Electricity costs and reliability came first, after FERC rejected the expanded co-location deal in 2024 over worries about power bills and the grid, and the deal had to be rewritten. Water is close behind, since Amazon asked the river basin commission for 277,000 gallons a day, received up to 129,000, and wants to discharge used cooling water into the Susquehanna. Residents also raise farmland conversion, truck traffic on Route 11, and what happens to the campus when the nuclear plant's licenses run out in 2042 and 2044.
Key opponents
We haven't found an organized group formed against the Amazon campus itself. Three Mile Island Alert's Eric Epstein has criticized Amazon for low-balling its water requests, and residents at the 2024 rezoning hearing said turning farmland industrial would hurt their land values. Separately, eight residents won a Sunshine Act ruling in August 2026 over the township's handling of a third data center project.
Key supporters
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who announced Amazon's $20 billion statewide plan in Berwick in June 2025; Talen Energy; the Salem Township supervisors, who approved the overlay district and a 10-year tax break at a 70 percent discount; and Luzerne County Community College President John Yudichak, whose college is training workers with Amazon.

How we got here

Talen started the campus in 2021 and sold it to AWS for $650 million in March 2024. Salem Township's planning commission recommended Amazon's overlay district in April 2024, and supervisors, who had already approved a 10-year tax break for Amazon, approved the district after a May 28, 2024 hearing. PJM's request to raise the co-located load from 300 to 480 megawatts was rejected by FERC 2-1 on November 1, 2024, and Talen's subsidiary took the case to the Fifth Circuit on January 16, 2025. Gov. Shapiro announced Amazon's $20 billion statewide plan on June 9, 2025, and on June 11, 2025 Talen and Amazon replaced the co-location deal with a 1,920 megawatt agreement through 2042. Amazon lists October 2025 as its construction start, and that month it asked for a traffic light at its Route 11 entrance. The river basin commission raised Amazon's water approval to 0.129 million gallons a day on March 12, 2026, and the state took the project off its Fast Track list in August 2026.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Energy costs and the grid

High

Co-located behind-the-meter arrangement triggers cost-shift to ratepayers; flagship FERC ER24-2172 case.

FERC

Water

High

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission approved up to 129,000 gallons a day of consumptive use, after Amazon asked for 277,000 and had started construction in 2024 with a 60,000 gallon limit for three buildings. Amazon says 129,000 gallons is peak use on the hottest days. Three Mile Island Alert's Eric Epstein said Amazon low-balled its water requests and kept its full build-out needs confidential.

Altoona Mirror

Energy costs and the grid

High

FERC rejected the plan to raise the co-located Amazon load from 300 to 480 megawatts, citing possible increases in power bills for the public and risks to grid reliability. Talen and Amazon then moved to a grid-connected deal for up to 1,920 megawatts.

Data Center Dynamics

Water

Medium

Amazon is seeking a DEP permit to discharge used cooling water into a stretch of the Susquehanna classified as a warm water fishery. Critics worry about water temperature and lower dissolved oxygen during low flows, and the Fish and Boat Commission said it had not reviewed any discharge permit for the site.

Outdoor News

Traffic

Medium

AWS asked for a traffic light where its campus entrance meets Route 11, and the Salem Township police chief supported it, citing triaxle truck traffic from construction.

Press Enterprise

Property values

Medium

At the 2024 rezoning hearing, residents worried that changing about 1,600 acres from agricultural to industrial zoning would devalue their land, and some said Amazon had approached them with offers to buy.

PhillyVoice
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Three Mile Island Alert

Statewide nuclear and energy watchdog based in central Pennsylvania

Leaders: Eric Epstein (quoted for the group)

Tactics: Public criticism and comments on Susquehanna River Basin Commission water approvals

Criticized Amazon's Salem Township water requests in March 2026.

Website

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2024$300 million of the Cumulus sale price held in escrow is released to Talen as development milestones are met (2024; exact date not confirmed) SEC EDGAR
  • 2024-03-05World Nuclear News reports Talen is selling its Cumulus data center campus beside the Susquehanna plant to AWS for $650 million. World Nuclear News
  • 2024-04-25The township planning commission votes to recommend Amazon Data Services' request for a Special Data Center Overlay District. Press Enterprise
  • 2024-05-28After a public hearing, supervisors approve the new industrial overlay district that lets Amazon build out a campus of about 1,600 acres. PhillyVoice
  • 2024-06-01PJM files amended ISA at FERC for AWS-Talen 300 to 480 MW source
  • 2024-11-01FERC 2-1 rejects PJM amended ISA for AWS-Talen co-located increase FERC
  • 2025-01-16Talen's subsidiary files a petition in the Fifth Circuit asking the court to review FERC's rejection of the expanded co-location agreement. Justia Dockets
  • 2025-04-16FERC denies Talen rehearing on co-located ISA FERC
  • 2025-06-09The governor announces Amazon's plan to invest at least $20 billion in Pennsylvania, naming Salem Township and Falls Township as the first campus sites. Office of the Governor
  • 2025-06-11AWS-Talen restructure to 1,920 MW Front-Of-Meter PPA SEC EDGAR
  • 2025-10-03FERC tells the Fifth Circuit that Talen's challenge is moot because Talen has agreed to drop the behind-the-meter arrangement. Bloomberg Law
  • 2025-10-07AWS asks for a traffic light where its campus entrance meets Route 11, and the township police chief backs it, citing triaxle truck traffic. Press Enterprise
  • 2026-01-26Outdoor News reports Amazon is seeking a DEP discharge permit to release used cooling water into the Susquehanna River. Outdoor News
  • 2026-03-12The commission approves raising consumptive water use at the PHL100 campus to up to 0.129 million gallons a day. Federal Register
  • 2026-08-18An executive order removes all data centers from the state's Fast Track permitting program, which had included the Amazon and QTS projects in Salem Township. Shenandoah Sentinel
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2024-06-01
    FERC docket FERC · ER24-2172

    AWS-Talen ISA amendment 300 to 480 MW; rejected 2-1 Nov 1 2024; rehearing denied Apr 16 2025.

    PJM, Talen, AWS · Rehearing denied; appealed
  • 2025-01-16
    Federal appeal U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · No. 25-60019, Susquehanna Nuclear, L.L.C. v. FERC

    Talen appeal of FERC ISA rejection.

    Susquehanna Nuclear, L.L.C. (Talen Energy subsidiary) v. FERC · Dismissed by Talen, January 2026. Talen voluntarily dismissed the appeal in January 2026 after FERC approved restoring 148 megawatts of capacity interconnection rights at Susquehanna, according to its 2025 annual report.
  • 2025-01-16
    Federal appeal U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 25-60019

    Talen's subsidiary challenges FERC's 2024 orders rejecting the amended interconnection service agreement that would have raised the co-located Amazon load at Susquehanna from 300 to 480 megawatts.

    Susquehanna Nuclear, L.L.C. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; intervenors Vistra, American Electric Power, Exelon and PPL Electric Utilities · Dismissed by Talen, January 2026. Talen voluntarily dismissed the appeal in January 2026 after FERC approved restoring 148 megawatts of capacity interconnection rights at Susquehanna, according to its 2025 annual report.
  • 2026-03-12
    River basin commission approval Susquehanna River Basin Commission · 20240901

    Modification raising consumptive water use at the PHL100 Data Center Campus in Salem Township to up to 0.129 million gallons a day (30-day average). Amazon had asked for 0.277.

    Amazon Data Services, Inc. · Approved
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.

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