Philadelphia Moves to Block Data Centers as U.S. Cities Push Back

PHILADELPHIA — More than 100 residents and environmental advocates gathered outside Philadelphia City Hall on Monday to launch the “No Data Centers in Philly” campaign. They urged municipal leaders to adopt a proactive moratorium before formal development proposals can be submitted.

The campaign was organized by the local environmental justice group Philly Thrive and the advocacy organization Clean Air Council. Municipal discussions have identified two possible locations for future data centers: one in Northeast Philadelphia and another in Grays Ferry, a neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia.

Donna Greenberg, a Philadelphia resident who attended the demonstration, raised concerns about the massive volumes of water needed to cool server farms. She also worried that data center electricity consumption could strain municipal infrastructure and increase household utility rates.

Philadelphia’s debate comes as a growing nationwide backlash against the physical footprint of artificial intelligence prompts cities and states to halt or restrict new data center construction. Denver, Indianapolis, Asheville, Charlotte, and Reno have enacted temporary moratoriums, giving officials time to assess the long-term effects of high-density computing facilities on public utilities and residential neighborhoods.

New York has also increased scrutiny. Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order temporarily halting new environmental permits for large-scale industrial projects, including high-energy data facilities. At a press conference, Hochul said technological advancement should not come at the cost of inflated utility bills, depleted local water supplies, or noise pollution, and that such facilities should be built only in communities that actively welcome them.

For Grays Ferry residents, the possibility of new heavy industrial infrastructure is tied to the neighborhood’s history. The community sits beside the 1,300-acre site of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery, which operated for more than 150 years and processed as many as 335,000 barrels of crude oil each day.

The PES complex was Philadelphia’s largest single source of air pollution before a massive explosion and fire in June 2019 caused its permanent closure and subsequent bankruptcy. Shawmar Pitts, managing co-director of Philly Thrive, joined the environmental movement in 2018 after seeing chronic illnesses among family members and neighbors that aligned with the documented health impacts of living near the refinery.

Sonya Sanders, board president of Philly Thrive, spoke at the City Hall rally about the human toll of localized pollution. Her husband, a lifelong Grays Ferry resident who did not smoke or drink, died of a rare bone cancer in 2020. Sanders attributes his illness to decades of exposure to refinery emissions.

Sanders also expressed skepticism about corporate promises of an economic windfall, saying the facilities would bring noise and pollution rather than local employment opportunities. Pitts described the gathering of residents to challenge future industrial zoning as a critical defensive effort.

The environmental threat from data centers differs from traditional heavy manufacturing, but advocates say the localized effects can still be severe. Modern facilities depend on large arrays of industrial diesel generators for backup power and to prevent service interruptions.

At the rally, Clean Air Council attorney Annie Fox said a typical data center planned in Pennsylvania uses hundreds of diesel engines. Under existing regulatory frameworks, operators may be permitted or encouraged to run the highly polluting generators during extreme heatwaves to relieve pressure on the regional electrical grid. The engines can release fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides directly into nearby residential areas.

The broader energy demand behind the conflict is also expanding rapidly. BloombergNEF projects that U.S. data centers will consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035, a projection that has nearly doubled over a nine-month period.

Natural gas burns cleaner than coal or oil, but its combustion still carries an environmental cost. Burning one cubic foot of natural gas releases approximately 60 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent. The projected increase in data center electricity demand is expected to produce an additional 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each day, equal to roughly 12% of current total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The expansion is taking place amid continuing public health warnings. A landmark 2021 study by Harvard University researchers found that air pollution from fossil fuels is responsible for one in five deaths globally.

With the regional electrical grid facing tightening capacity constraints, Philadelphia activists hope their preemptive campaign will persuade City Council members to join the growing number of U.S. municipalities pausing data center expansion while environmental and infrastructural questions remain unresolved.