Salem Township, Luzerne County, PADeveloper: Amazon Web ServicesCensus GEOID 42079
Amazon Web Services is constructing a hyperscale data center campus acquired from Talen Energy (Cumulus Data) on 1,200 acres adjacent to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station at 500 Salem Boulevard in Salem Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Phase 1 has completed Pennsylvania DEP review with all 4 permits issued, while Phase 2 has 4 permits under review (3 issued, 1 pending). It is being built, as reported September 1, 2026.
How much power it needs, how much water it would use and who would use it have not been disclosed.
Tap a pin for the data center, the parcel for its record
The other pins are the published projects in the same state, each in its stage color. The imagery beneath is the USGS national orthoimagery, public domain, shown so the land around the site can be read.
How to read this page. Every fact links to the source it rests on; a number in brackets is its place in the source list. A figure no source gives reads Not disclosed, and nothing is estimated. Where sources give different figures, each is shown with who gave it, and another source's figure never stands in for the record's own. Entries are added and never overwritten; corrections are listed under What happened.
Each figure as its source gave it. The number in brackets is its place in the source list.
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How much power it needs | ||||
| How much water it would use | ||||
| How loud it would be | ||||
| Jobs once it runs | ||||
| Tax it would pay each year |
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is building it | Amazon Web Services | as stated by the source | [1] gis.dep.pa.gov (opens in a new tab) | October 23, 2026 |
| Who is constructing it | ||||
| How much land | 1,200 acres | what a permit allows | [1] gis.dep.pa.gov (opens in a new tab) | October 23, 2026 |
| Buildings | ||||
| Where its power comes from | Colocated nuclear power from Talen Energy Susquehanna Steam Electric Station under PJM interconnection filings | as stated by the source | [3] ferc.gov (opens in a new tab) | October 23, 2026 |
| Grid connection | ||||
| How it is cooled | ||||
| State permit status | Phase 1: DEP review complete; Phase 2: permits under review | the state's permit register, as of October 7, 2026, last verified October 23, 2026 | [1] gis.dep.pa.gov (opens in a new tab) | October 23, 2026 |
Jobs once it runs, also reported: 1,000 jobs, 2026 (Times Leader (opens in a new tab): Amazon project expected to support approximately 1,000 permanent high skilled tech jobs) .
A blank value cell means not disclosed by any source on file; a blank basis cell means the source gave the figure without saying on what basis.
The developer's figure is what the company said; what a permit allows is the ceiling a permit sets; measured means observed. Water is in gallons a day or a year, whichever the source stated; a tax claim given as a range shows both ends, each linked to the source that gave it.
The record adds each the day a source gives it. Why these documents.
Acts of Luzerne County and Salem Township about data centers, on the record with their source. A rule about the area is not a decision about this record.
| Date | Who | Decision | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazle Township | Hazle Township enacted a municipal moratorium on the data center project | theguardian.com (opens in a new tab) | |
| Hazle Township | Hazle Township's government rejected the data center project on zoning grounds and placed a temporary moratorium on data center construction | breitbart.com (opens in a new tab) | |
| Salem Township | DEP published notice inviting comments on NPDES Water Quality Permit for Amazon Data Services ADS Berwick Data Center in Salem Township, Luzerne County | paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) | |
| Luzerne County | Plains Township to host hearing on AI data center zoning map changes to accommodate data centers on September 22 in Luzerne County | paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) | |
| Salem Township | Planning Commission voted Thursday to recommend township supervisors approve expansion of data center overlay district for third project despite court stay order | thecentersquare.com (opens in a new tab) | |
| Salem Township | Salem Township Board of Supervisors scheduled to meet Wednesday to decide on data center overlay zone expansion | timesleader.com (opens in a new tab) |
| Date | Who | Decision | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hazle Township | Hazle Township supervisors passed a 180 day freeze on new data center applications on June 8, 2026, pausing Project Hazelnut while officials rewrite zoning rules | thecooldown.com (opens in a new tab) | |
| Hazle Township | Hazle Township Supervisors voted 3-0 on November 14, 2025 to deny land development approval for Project Hazelnut | standardspeaker.com (opens in a new tab) |
· Status: being built (source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Amazon's data center project in Salem Township is in construction.
· Status: permitting (content date)
The Pennsylvania DEP received the project's first permit application on June 11, 2024; its tracker lists Phase 1 as DEP review complete and Phase 2 as permits under review (45 permits: 36 issued, 5 pending, 4 not yet submitted).
The full Amazon Luzerne Data Center (Susquehanna Campus) timeline, in order
Hayes says data center impacts can reach beyond the companies building the facilities, potentially affecting neighbors and taxpayers through electricity costs and the availability of public water.
King says Pennsylvania's energy resources and location near major East Coast cities make it appealing to companies developing AI data centers, and the rapid expansion of AI is contributing to growing energy demand.
Every statement about data centers in Pennsylvania, by speaker
Dr. Benjamin Hayes, program director of Watershed Sciences and Engineering, says many large data centers use water to cool their equipment.
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: WITF (opens in a new tab).
Brian R. King, an associate professor of computer science at Bucknell University, says data centers house powerful computers used to train and operate AI models, relying on graphics processing units that require substantial amounts of electricity.
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: WITF (opens in a new tab).
Hayes argues that communities need to consider how multiple data center projects could affect the same watershed or power supply, rather than evaluating each proposal in isolation.
Provenance: Paraphrased; said in the source itself.
Primary source: WITF (opens in a new tab).
The pin is the site, as the EPA's facility record places it. Location from an EPA facility record.
The record has one measure of its size: 1,200 acres (what a permit allows, gis.dep.pa.gov (opens in a new tab)). Its power capacity is not disclosed.
Amazon Web Services is the developer, gis.dep.pa.gov (opens in a new tab). No construction contractor is named on the record yet.
Not disclosed. No source on file names a tenant, says whether the site is single or multi tenant, or states what it is for. The record keeps the use as not disclosed until one does; see Who it serves.
Power: not disclosed by any source on file. Water: not disclosed by any source on file.
It is being built, as reported September 1, 2026. The newest entry, reported September 1, 2026: Amazon's data center project in Salem Township is in construction. [4]
Hazle Township: Hazle Township enacted a municipal moratorium on the data center project (reported October 19, 2026, theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)); and Hazle Township: Hazle Township's government rejected the data center project on zoning grounds and placed a temporary moratorium on data center construction (reported September 29, 2026, breitbart.com (opens in a new tab)). 8 events are on the county's rows; a rule about the area is not a decision about this record.
Not disclosed by any source on file: how much power it needs, how much water it would use, how loud it would be, jobs once it runs, tax it would pay each year, who is constructing it, buildings, grid connection, how it is cooled. No missing primary document is listed for this record yet; What the record lacks is where one appears when a person names it.
Official municipal or regulatory agency docket page cited on the project record.
4 sources on file.
Last verified , first recorded . Every correction is logged on the corrections page. Report a correction · Send a tip about Amazon Luzerne Data Center (Susquehanna Campus)
Data Center Record, "Amazon Luzerne Data Center (Susquehanna Campus)", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/amazon-luzerne-data-center-pa. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY-NC 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY-NC 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Prose stays under copyright.
