UPPER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — Township officials are processing an application to construct a 2.6 million square-foot data center at Air Product's former site on Hamilton Boulevard.
Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, disclosed the proposal in a column published Sunday in the Morning Call.
The plan comes as tech companies across the country are looking to build more facilities capable of supporting cryptocurrency mining, artificial intelligence and other power-hungry endeavors.
Township officials told LehighValleyNews.com on Wednesday that the plans are not yet available for public review as the submission is still being processed.
Air Products, which still owns the 194-acre site, moved off the location in 2021 for a new headquarters on Mill Creek Road, about a mile away.
The Fortune 500 company initially proposed constructing three warehouses on the site in 2023, but those have not come to fruition. Lehigh County's website shows the property has an assessed value of $22.2 million.
Data centers have become in vogue for developers and some communities as they generate millions of dollars in investment. And unlike the warehouse developments that have raised public outcry in the Lehigh Valley, they don't generate new truck traffic that clog highways and wear down road infrastructure.
Upper Mount Bethel Township has flirted with tech companies in hopes of bringing a data center to its long-vacant 800-acre River Point property.
But environmentalists have decried the centers as they consume huge amounts of energy, creating a bigger demand for fossil fuels. That's contributing to the rising cost of energy, which is growing faster than inflation.
Bradley said in her column a single large data center requires the same amount of energy as 500,000 homes.
Rather than paint data centers as a savior for tax-starved communities or a blight on the environment, Bradley said they are a new reality that communities and local planners need to prepare for.
"Just as the industrial age gave way to the information age, we're now also entering the infrastructure age — one defined by energy demand, technological adaptability and the ability of local governments to respond thoughtfully and quickly," she wrote.
