Bucks County is caught in the middle of one of the most consequential infrastructure battles of the digital age, and residents aren’t staying quiet about it, writes a staff writer for The Keystone.

Proposed data centers are multiplying across the county, drawing scrutiny from neighborhoods and township halls alike.

The facilities, which are massive warehouses packed with computer systems that power cloud storage, artificial intelligence, and everyday digital services, require acres of land, enormous energy draws, and thousands of gallons of water to keep the servers cool.

In Falls Township, an Amazon Web Services facility is already moving forward at the Keystone Trade Center site in Fairless Hills.

The project was approved in 2025, but opposition has only grown since. More than 1,000 residents have signed a petition against it, and a crowd showed up to a Falls supervisors meeting on May 18 to make their objections heard.

West Rockhill Township is trying to get ahead of the issue before construction ever begins.

Last month, the township adopted new regulations specifically targeting data centers, a move solicitor David Keightly said was necessary to control what gets built and where.

Without such rules, Keightly warned, developers “can establish that use wherever they want and not be subject to any regulations.”

It’s a tension playing out in municipalities across Pennsylvania. No local government can outright ban data centers, but townships can craft ordinances to shape how, where, and under what conditions they’re built to protect residents and their growing concerns.

Learn more about recent data center developments in Bucks County and resident responses to the growing number of proposals in The Keystone.

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