Peach Bottom Township, York County
Energy Capital Partners said in July 2025 it would build a $5 billion data center at Calpine's 828 megawatt York 2 gas plant in Peach Bottom Township, York County, but the township says no application has been submitted, and the plant's new owner is required to sell it.
Energy Capital Partners announced the $5 billion data center at Calpine's York 2 Energy Center on July 15, 2025, at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, and the York County Economic Alliance put construction employment at about 2,500 jobs. The 828 megawatt dual-fuel combined-cycle plant sits in the same township as the Peach Bottom nuclear station. Township supervisors said on November 5, 2025 and January 5, 2026 that no one had contacted or filed anything with the township. Constellation completed its purchase of Calpine on January 7, 2026, under federal terms that require selling York 2, and reported agreeing in March 2026 to sell five PJM plants to LS Power. Meanwhile the township wrote data center rules: the planning commission forwarded a draft on March 17, 2026, York County planners reviewed it in April and May, and supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 2026-02 on August 5, 2026.
Under the township's 2026 ordinance, a data center here couldn't use well water for cooling; cooling water would have to come directly from the Susquehanna River, with a water feasibility study, baseline testing of nearby private wells, and Susquehanna River Basin Commission approval above set thresholds. Residents raised groundwater depletion at the August 5, 2026 hearing.
Peach Bottom TownshipThe ordinance caps the 24-hour average sound level (with evening and night penalties) at 58 dBA at the boundary of any property with a home, school or similar sensitive use, and 70 dBA at other developed property.
Peach Bottom TownshipThe ordinance limits buildings to 60 feet, requires 200-foot setbacks from all property lines and 1,000 feet from sensitive uses, and calls for earthen berms at least 30 feet high next to sensitive uses.
Peach Bottom TownshipThe York County Economic Alliance put construction employment at about 2,500 jobs; no permanent job count has been published.
Central Penn Business JournalIn 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 →