South Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County
A natural gas power plant in South Huntingdon Township that has run since 2018 received its first Title V operating permit in June 2026. A data center proposed about a mile away has raised questions about whether it could use the plant's power.
DEP issued plan approval PA-65-00990C for construction and temporary operation on April 1, 2015, and the plant began commercial operation in December 2018, according to Tenaska. DEP settled short-term carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides exceedances with Tenaska through consent assessments of $14,997 in September 2022 and $5,028 in October 2025. Tenaska applied for its initial Title V operating permit on July 11, 2024. DEP first proposed the permit on October 4, 2025, held a public hearing in West Newton on February 4, 2026, and took comments through February 14, 2026. In May 2026 DEP extended the plant's temporary operating period to November 28, 2026, and on June 30, 2026 it issued Title V permit TV-65-00990, effective July 15. In October 2026 a data center was proposed on farmland along Route 31 about a mile away.
DEP lists the plant's potential emissions at 303.1 tons of nitrogen oxides, 657.3 tons of carbon monoxide, 222.2 tons of volatile organic compounds, 193.8 tons of ammonia and 3,724,826 tons of greenhouse gases a year.
Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 1Air modeling by the Environmental Health Project, cited at DEP's hearing, showed the plant's greatest impacts along the Youghiogheny River near Sutersville, West Newton and Buena Vista. DEP replied that the map shows relative impact and doesn't show any air quality standard being violated.
Pennsylvania DEPThe plant discharges treated industrial wastewater to the Youghiogheny River, and the main outfall's limits are based on a design flow of 1.6 million gallons a day, according to DEP's notice of the permit renewal.
Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 1A 1.1 million-square-foot data center has been proposed about a mile from the 940 MW plant, and the plans filed with the township don't say where its electricity would come from, according to Marcellus Drilling News.
Marcellus Drilling NewsNeighbors asked DEP to make Tenaska replace its cooling tower with air-cooled condensers that wouldn't use Youghiogheny River water. DEP said a Title V permit can't require equipment or design changes.
Pennsylvania DEPNeighbors told DEP the cooling tower plume has been raining down on their property for years and complained of fuel and hydrocarbon odors and rising noise. DEP said it takes such complaints seriously and handles them under the appropriate programs.
Pennsylvania DEPTenaska says the plant has 24 employees, has paid $2 million in local property taxes since 2018, and paid $18.9 million in salaries and local vendor payments in 2025.
TenaskaTactics: Testified at DEP's February 4, 2026 hearing and asked DEP to require Tenaska to post emissions readings daily on a public website; co-signed joint comments.
Commented on the Title V permit; not a group organized against this plant alone.
Tactics: Testified that the draft permit lacked monitoring for several pollutants, including sulfuric acid mist, fine particles, sulfur oxides and greenhouse gases.
Commented on the Title V permit.
Tactics: Produced air dispersion modeling cited at the hearing and asked DEP to require stack testing for volatile organic compounds and particulate matter every year instead of every two years.
Commented on the Title V permit.
Tactics: Submitted detailed written comments, co-signed by Mountain Watershed Association, Clean Air Council, Yough Communities CARE, Environmental Health Project, Protect PT, Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community and Moms Clean Air Force's Pennsylvania chapter, and testified at the hearing about the plant's compliance record.
Commented on the Title V permit.
Tactics: Co-signed joint comments on the Title V permit.
Named as a signatory in DEP's comment and response document; we didn't find a website.
Initial Title V operating permit for the Tenaska Westmoreland gas-fired power plant.
Tenaska Pennsylvania Partners LLC · Issued June 30, 2026, effective July 15, 2026 and expiring June 30, 2031, after a comment period that ended Feb. 14, 2026Initial Title V permit covering two 3,147 MMBtu/hr combined cycle turbines with duct burners, a 245 MMBtu/hr auxiliary boiler, an emergency fire pump engine and a cooling tower, with selective catalytic reduction and oxidation catalysts.
Tenaska Pennsylvania Partners LLC · Issued June 30, 2026; effective July 15, 2026; expires June 30, 2031$14,997 to settle carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides exceedances and reporting violations between December 2018 and January 2022.
Pennsylvania DEP and Tenaska · Closed, according to DEP$5,028 to settle carbon monoxide exceedances between May 2022 and April 2025.
Pennsylvania DEP and Tenaska · Closed, according to DEPRenewal of the plant's individual permit to discharge treated industrial wastewater to the Youghiogheny River.
Tenaska PA Partners LLC · Reported issued in the June 13, 2026 Pennsylvania BulletinIn 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 →