Pennsylvanians use town hall meeting to rail against data center boom

An aerial view of Project Boson, the future site of a nearly 620,000-square-foot data center surrounded by homes and a school in Archbald, Pa. Credit: Heather Ainsworth/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The latest example of burgeoning opposition to rapid data-center development in Pennsylvania came at a town hall meeting overflowing with frustration about how the state is managing the surge.

As about 225 people watched, more than 20 speakers in the two-hour online forum late Wednesday spoke about resistance to an industry they blame for rising electricity prices, heavy water use, noise pollution and rural industrialization. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has tried to thread the needle of welcoming data centers while proposing some guardrails, was a frequent target.

“This is a public trust and transparency issue,” said Jennifer Dusart, a small business owner and resident of Mechanicsburg, near the state capital. “Too many Americans are finding out ...