NorthPoint is offering $10,000 grants in a Pennsylvania data center bid.

NorthPoint Development is seeking approval for a 15-building data-center campus in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, and is offering eligible households $10,000 grants if the project is approved and its first building becomes operational.

Project Hazelnut would include a substation, switchyard and four ancillary buildings. NorthPoint has proposed a $165 million community-benefit package, including $45 million for direct resident grants, $15 million for community programs and $105 million over 15 years for township services.

Eligible Hazle Township households would receive $10,000 after the first data-center building receives a certificate of occupancy. NorthPoint projects that milestone could come in late 2027 if the project is approved.

The dispute reflects a wider debate over the infrastructure needed to expand artificial intelligence. Data centers place substantial demands on power systems, land and cooling resources, making local approval and utility planning critical to AI expansion.

A March survey found that 71% of U.S. adults opposed building AI data centers in their local area, including 48% who strongly opposed them. Majorities across party groups opposed local construction, while strong opposition reached 56% among Democrats and 39% among Republicans.

At least 75 U.S. data-center projects valued at approximately $130 billion were blocked or delayed during the first quarter of 2026. Active opposition groups more than doubled across 49 states during the period.

The Pennsylvania project also highlights the electricity infrastructure required to serve data centers. PPL Electric has proposed about 1.1 miles of new double-circuit, 230-kilovolt transmission lines connecting existing lines to a planned Tomhicken switchyard in Hazle Township.

NorthPoint says Project Hazelnut would conserve about 1,100 acres of forest and open space and would not use local drinking water for industrial cooling. It says cooling water would come from the Greater Hazleton Joint Sewer Authority from May through September.

The company's website gives conflicting employment figures. One listing cites 2,000 construction and operational jobs, while another lists more than 1,300 construction jobs and 950 permanent positions.

On Aug. 18, 2026, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order requiring data-center developers seeking state permits to meet new infrastructure standards and obtain local approval. The order removed AI data-center proposals from the state's Permit Fast Track program and prohibited nondisclosure agreements for data-center projects.

Pennsylvania identified more than 100 publicly listed data-center proposals, including 58 projects engaging with the Department of Environmental Protection and 15 that had applied for at least one permit as of Aug. 18.

"Over the past year, I've listened to the people of Pennsylvania – and I've heard directly from many residents across our Commonwealth who are concerned about what data center development could mean for our communities, our environment, and our utility bills," Shapiro said.

"My message to data center developers is clear: if you can't agree to our strict requirements and get the community where you want to build to say 'yes,' you're not going to have the Commonwealth's support either," he said.

The debate centers on whether data centers can support rural communities while addressing residents' concerns that development could shift costs or risks onto communities. Pennsylvania's broader data-center debate has focused on facility locations, infrastructure costs and how communities share in potential benefits.

Annie Vinatieri, a Sugarloaf Township protester, described the opposition as a point of agreement across political divides.

"It's invigorating, in the sense that you're meeting people who might not be like-minded on a lot of things, but it feels for so many people like this a righteous cause," Vinatieri said.

"We can maybe disagree on the political finer points of things, but we can find this very real camaraderie in the midst of everything," she said.