BUCKS COUNTY, Pennsylvania — Just a few months ago, data centers were the belle of the Pennsylvania ball. Now they’re public enemy No. 1.
A bartender in Harrisburg back in the spring told me she thought the local economy was on the rise, and she pointed to a plan to reopen the long-dormant Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power a fleet of data centers for Microsoft.
Out in western Pennsylvania, when rumors of a data center began spreading in the most depressed corner of the state, local politicians and businessmen were thrilled…