Data centers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: 2 projects mapped

Instead of a fight, the city negotiated. On November 20, 2025 the council voted 6-1, with Janet Diaz opposed, to approve a community benefits agreement with Chirisa, over the objections of most of the more than a dozen speakers. It guarantees $20 million, secured by a letter of credit and split between economic development and sustainable development funds; noise no greater than today's at nearby homes and parks; the site's 176 backup diesel generators meeting state and federal air standards and tested only on weekday daytimes; and 100 percent renewable electricity, including nuclear, for the first ten years or millions of dollars in penalties, with operations barred below 60 percent. In return, neither site will be subject to the city's proposed new data center rules if development plans are filed within two years, though the Harrisburg Pike site and Greenfield's second phase still need planning commission approval. "If they meet the requirements of the law, they're going to build the data centers, and you won't have any of the benefits built into this agreement," City Solicitor Barry Handwerger told council. Resident Darrell Lagace called the clean-energy clause "pay to pollute."

Phase two at Greenfield Road, a two-story building of about 735,128 square feet costing up to $2.5 billion including equipment, has gone to the planning commission, according to LNP reporting compiled by a local civic site; the developers say it includes a $200 million PPL substation and switchyard and that each site will use no more than 20,000 gallons of water a day, with air-cooled chillers. In early 2026 the city was seating a five-member Innovation Hub Committee, with a Chirisa or CoreWeave representative among its members, to oversee the $10 million economic development fund. At the state level, the Pennsylvania House voted 104-95 in March 2026 for a bill requiring data centers to pay for grid upgrades and new generation and to meet rising clean-energy shares. What comes next: planning commission review of phase two and of any Harrisburg Pike plans; the phase one building is due for completion in summer 2027.