Data centers in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: 5 projects mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Luzerne County has Pennsylvania's best-known nuclear-powered data center and one of its most bitter fights. Next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Salem Township, Amazon bought Talen Energy's existing nuclear-powered data center campus, AWS Berwick, in March 2024 and has since won a rezoning of about 1,600 acres for 15 more buildings over the coming decade. The township gave Amazon a 10-year, 70 percent tax break, after which officials expect about $7 million a year in local taxes. Some residents said switching the land from agricultural to industrial zoning would devalue their property; others said Amazon had offered to buy them out.

In Hazle Township, residents have fought Project Hazelnut, NorthPoint Development's plan for an Amazon Web Services campus of 15 buildings and a substation on nearly 1,300 acres of the coal plateau. Gov. Josh Shapiro launched it in November 2025 as a flagship of his fast-track permitting program, promising 900 jobs; the township's supervisors denied it that same fall despite the state's forest-clearing permits. A judge rebuked NorthPoint's attempt to appeal in May 2026, and on June 8 the supervisors voted unanimously to pause all data center applications for 180 days while they rewrite their zoning, before a room of about a hundred people, some wearing "Project Hazelnot" T-shirts. NorthPoint returned on June 24 with a revised plan and a $165 million community benefits fund, including $10,000 grants to eligible households. "We have a beautiful area here. First, it was scarred by coal mines, and we don't want any more damage done," said resident Joanne Balay.

In Sugarloaf Township, developer LBT Investments has sued the township over a data center proposed on a site already approved for a warehouse, and a data center ordinance has grown out of that dispute; the company says it would use existing 230-kilovolt power lines and closed-loop cooling. "The people making the decisions don't live here," resident Andy Sanko said at a packed hearing in December 2025. "But it's people like my 85-year-old parents who will be stuck paying these bills." QTS has also proposed a project in Salem Township, though its exact site has not been made public.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.