Exposure Episode 19- The Pennsylvania Data Center Rush: An Extended Conversation with Karen Feridun
Karen Feridun – Pennsylvania’s Data Center Rush
As Pennsylvania races to attract a new generation of massive data centers, Better Path Coalition’s Karen Feridun argues that communities deserve a much larger role in deciding what gets built, where it goes, and what resources it consumes.
Pennsylvania is in the middle of another industrial transformation. After decades shaped by coal, fracking, pipelines and petrochemical development, communities across the Commonwealth are now confronting the rapid expansion of large-scale data centers.
In this extended conversation, Exposure sits down with Karen Feridun of Better Path Coalition to discuss why her organization has increasingly turned its attention toward data centers, the connection she sees between this new development and Pennsylvania’s natural-gas industry, and why the debate has mobilized communities that have not traditionally been involved in environmental fights.
From Fracking to Data Centers
Better Path Coalition formed in 2018 out of efforts to connect groups working on pipelines, fracking and climate issues across Pennsylvania. Since then, Feridun says the organization has followed a succession of proposed industrial buildouts—from petrochemicals and hydrogen hubs to today’s data-center boom.
For Feridun, there is an important through-line between these industries: energy.
While data centers may appear disconnected from oil and gas development, their enormous electricity requirements have placed natural gas squarely within Pennsylvania’s discussion about how new facilities will be powered. That makes the data-center debate not simply a technology or land-use question, but part of a much larger conversation about the Commonwealth’s energy future.
Who Gets to Decide?
Much of the conversation focuses on a deceptively simple question: How much say should communities have over industrial development occurring within their borders?
Feridun argues that local governments remain one of the few places where residents can meaningfully influence decisions affecting their communities. Data centers have sharpened that debate because their potential impacts—including land, electricity and water demand—are experienced locally even when the economic and energy policies encouraging their construction originate elsewhere.
That tension has brought residents into municipal meetings across Pennsylvania, including communities where no data center has yet been proposed.
Feridun believes that local knowledge matters. She points to her own experience serving on a borough planning commission, where she supported renewable energy but nevertheless opposed a particular solar proposal she believed was inappropriate for the community.
Supporting a technology, she argues, does not mean every proposed project belongs everywhere.
An Unusual Political Coalition
One of the most striking aspects of Pennsylvania’s data-center debate is the breadth of the opposition Feridun says she is seeing.
Environmental issues frequently become divided along familiar ideological lines. Data centers have proven more complicated.
Because they can potentially be built across a much wider geographic area than industries dependent upon particular mineral deposits or pipeline routes, communities that previously viewed industrial development as someone else’s problem increasingly see themselves as potential hosts.
Feridun argues that concerns about water, land use, energy and local control can create common ground between people who otherwise disagree politically.
“We all want clean water.”
That simple point captures one of the central themes of the conversation: industrial development does not always fit neatly within partisan boundaries when the consequences become intensely local.
Slowing Down the Rush
Feridun does not argue that data centers themselves are inherently good or bad. Modern life depends upon digital infrastructure, and data centers have existed for decades.
Her concern is the scale and speed of the current buildout.
Rather than treating every proposed facility as inevitable, she argues that Pennsylvania should first determine where large data centers make sense, how they should be regulated, what resources they will require, and how communities should participate in those decisions.
As Feridun puts it:
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with AI. There’s nothing inherently wrong with data centers. They aren’t good or bad things. They are just things. It’s how we handle them that make them good or bad.”
That may ultimately be the most important question facing Pennsylvania as the data-center boom accelerates—not simply whether these facilities will be built, but whether the Commonwealth can resist another industrial rush long enough to decide how, where and under what conditions they should be built.
Data Center Town Hall – Better Path Coalition – 2026 https://www.betterpathcoalition.org/data-center-town-hall
Governor Shapiro Secures the Largest Private Sector Investment in Pennsylvania History – Commonwealth of Pennsylvania / Governor Josh Shapiro – 2025 https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2025-press-releases/icymi-gov--shapiro-secures-the-largest-private-sector-investment
Governor Shapiro’s 2026–27 Budget Address – Commonwealth of Pennsylvania / Governor Josh Shapiro – 2026 https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/governor-shapiro-s-2026-27-budget-address-as-prepared-for-delive
Governor Shapiro Releases Full GRID Standards to Protect Pennsylvanians – Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – 2026 https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/gov-shapiro-releases-full-grid-standards-to-protect-pennsylvania
The Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Standards – Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development – 2026 https://dced.pa.gov/business-assistance/data-center-resources/grid-standards/
Governor Shapiro Signs Executive Order on Data Center Development in Pennsylvania – Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – 2026 https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/governor-shapiro-signs-executive-order-on-data-center-developmen
Senate Bill 1345: Optional Temporary Moratorium on High Impact Data Centers – Pennsylvania General Assembly – 2026 https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/sb1345
House Bill 2496: Pause on Data Center Proposals – Pennsylvania General Assembly – 2026 https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/text/HTM/2025/0/HB2496/PN3682
House Bill 2516: Commercial Data Center Zoning and Minimum Standards – Pennsylvania General Assembly – 2026 https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb2516
Uniformity vs. Authority: Data Center Preemption of Pennsylvania Municipalities – Pennsylvania Municipal League / John F. Walko & Finn L. Skovdal – 2026 https://www.pml.org/2026/02/24/uniformity-vs-authority-data-center-preemption-of-pennsylvania-municipalities/
AI & Data Centers – Better Path Coalition – 2026 https://www.betterpathcoalition.org/aijobsfair
Disclaimer: Exposure is an editorial and investigative journalism platform produced by Ohio Valley Allies. The views and opinions expressed by hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the organization or its affiliates. Statements made by guests reflect their personal experiences, interpretations, and analysis, and should not be construed as assertions made by Exposure. Our mission is to investigate and document the impacts of extractive industries—including oil, gas, petrochemicals, and plastics—through in-depth interviews, research, and storytelling. We aim to examine these industries using good-faith inquiry, verified sources where possible, and the protections afforded to journalists under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The content presented in this podcast is intended for informational, educational, and documentary purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice, a call to action, or an endorsement of any specific viewpoint, protest, or organization. We do not knowingly publish false or defamatory statements. All claims are based on publicly available information, firsthand accounts, expert interviews, or journalistic analysis. Where allegations or critical claims are made, we strive to provide context and sourcing. We are committed to correcting material errors. If you believe a factual inaccuracy has occurred, please contact us at info@ohiovalleyallies.org for timely review and, if warranted, correction. We encourage viewers to stay informed, engage thoughtfully with public policy, and participate in civic processes in their communities. While Exposure covers controversial and high-stakes topics, we do so as journalists seeking transparency, accountability, and the free exchange of ideas—not as advocates for any political party, protest strategy, or legal action.
Comments