A Montgomery County township is facing a lawsuit from the developer behind a proposed cluster of data centers, as community opposition and legal maneuvering collide in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Developer MLP Ventures filed suit against Upper Merion Township’s planning commission and board of supervisors, according to CBS Philadelphia, after the approval process stalled. A court order has placed the matter on hold, potentially delaying a township vote that had been scheduled for Thursday. The board was still set to meet and, per its posted agenda, planned to consider letters of extension tied to the proposal.
What MLP Ventures Is Proposing
The project, brought forward by Pennsylvania real estate executive Brian O’Neill under the MLP Ventures banner, would place data centers at five locations spanning Upper Merion and West Conshohocken. The facilities would total more than 4 million square feet. O’Neill has argued the development would generate a 54 percent increase in local tax revenue, rely on a closed-loop water system, meet noise requirements, and reduce light pollution.
As DeSmog reported in detail, the Upper Merion complex alone would span 4.6 million square feet, making it roughly seven times larger than the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Company documents reviewed by DeSmog put the project’s cost at $35.16 billion. On-site gas-fired power plants generating one gigawatt of electricity are also part of the plan. In adjacent Plymouth Township, MLP Ventures is separately proposing a two-million-square-foot complex on a shuttered steel plant site.
Residents Pack Community Meeting
Residents are not waiting on the courts. CBS Philadelphia reported that hundreds of people filled Upper Merion Middle School on Wednesday evening to voice opposition, many wearing No Data Centers stickers. One resident told the outlet the placement of such facilities near homes was deeply unfair…