We’re not sure that Warren County is ever going to be in the position Luzerne County is in right now, with two large data centers under serious discussion and eight proposed data centers in a 20-mile area.

Warren County’s remote location serves as somewhat of a protective barrier against the data center intrusion that is happening elsewhere in the state. Now is the time for the county to get ahead of the game with rules and guidelines that govern data center sizes and location when data center developers begin looking for space in Warren County.

County officials are working on such regulations, which Michael Lyon, county planning director, said could be released sometime this year. Lyon said it’s unlikely Warren County would see the types of large facilities that are driving debate in Pennsylvania and elsewhere around the country. There are also, at least so far, no confirmed interest in Warren County by major tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft looking to build million-square-foot facilities here.

That’s good, in our opinion, because it means the county has some time to get ahead of the data center question, and county residents have the opportunity to involve themselves in discussions that will govern data centers. County officials need to find a way to protect Warren County’s natural beauty while also carving out some areas that could potentially become home to data centers if the conditions are right. Construction of data centers can help build the county’s tax base – something that has been eroded in part by the state’s desire to conserve land through the Pennsylvania Game Commission. In our opinion simple opposition to all data centers makes little sense because we have had such a hard time over the years bringing in the type of development that builds our tax base. Doing so decreases the tax burden on homeowners, so there is a financial reason to consider data centers in the right places.

Data centers are a contentious issue. We hope county residents engage themselves in the process once county planning officials release proposed regulations.