Pick the weapons that work.
Lawful civil disobedience with documented track records. The ancestors did exactly this work. Most of them won by organizing, not by shooting.
The Whiskey Rebellion was morally right and tactically wrong. The Mingo Creek farmers picked up arms in 1794 and Washington marched 13,000 federal troops west and crushed them in weeks. The Sons of Liberty — same generation, same enemy — won unarmed, through coordinated commercial disobedience, public assembly, and the tarring of individual collaborators. Erica Chenoweth's research on a century of resistance campaigns finds non-violent civil resistance is roughly twice as likely to succeed as armed resistance, and the political settlement that follows is more durable.
The 2nd Amendment is for self-defense in your home. The 1st Amendment, the PA Constitution Article I § 27 (the Environmental Rights Amendment), and the federal procedural toolkit are what put the fear of God into elected officials. They are scared of paper trails, recorded meetings, cameras at their fundraisers, journalists holding their emails, banks pulling lines of credit, shareholders filing resolutions. They are not scared of armed neighbors — they have the National Guard. Pick the weapons that actually work.
One canonical map of every proposed PA project.
Before you organize against the project you can see, check what else is being planned within driving distance. The proposals travel together.
trackdatacenters.com · Emilia Doda
The canonical statewide map. One person, open civic-tech project.
Emilia Doda (Scranton native, USC physics/CS) maintains the most complete public map of PA data-center proposals — 53+ proposed and 52+ active as of May 2026. Profiled by Spotlight PA (Hannah Frances Johansson, Dec 31, 2025). Every new project file lands here within days of public knowledge.
Use the tracker to find proposals in your county and adjacent counties. Tip the tracker via the submission form if you have a project that isn't listed yet. If you're a developer or local government, the tracker is also a sanity check on what's actually on the public record vs. rumor.
Build the public record
Paper trail tactics. Nobody gets arrested. Everybody gets cited.
Coordinated record-creation across regulatory comment windows, public-records portals, and municipal meetings. Low individual risk; high collective accumulation. The Heatmap NDA story came from one citizen's Right-to-Know request. Imagine a hundred filed in a week.
180-day MPC zoning-revision pause
The constitutional workaround to the PA Supreme Court moratorium ban. Most replicable defensive tactic on this list.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that outright moratoriums on a permitted land use are unconstitutional. But the PA Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247) recognizes a 180-day pause on accepting new applications while a township is actively revising its zoning ordinance. Any township without 'data center' defined in its existing ordinance can invoke the pause, write the ordinance, and adopt it before any application has to be ruled on. Ordinances passed after an application is filed cannot be applied to that pending application — so the window closes the moment a developer files.
Brief every municipality in the corridor that doesn't already have 'data center' defined in its zoning code — across Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties. Priority targets without existing definitions include Bell, Apollo, Vandergrift, Leechburg, Saltsburg, Avonmore, Loyalhanna, Salem (Westmoreland), Washington (Westmoreland), and Center (Indiana). The Gilpin Township ordinance (Armstrong Co., April 23, 2026) is the template — 200-ft setbacks, water-supply impact study, noise study, grid-capacity verification. Township solicitors can copy and adapt within days.
Email your township supervisor or borough manager. Copy the template below, paste into your email app, fill in your address and name, hit send. Two minutes.
Dear Supervisor [name], I am a resident at [your address]. I am asking the board to adopt a 180-day pause under the PA Municipalities Planning Code while the township revises its zoning ordinance to define and regulate data-center use. Five Pennsylvania municipalities have already done this in 2026: East Whiteland and West Whiteland Townships (Chester Co.), Madison and Pine Townships (Columbia Co.), and Montour County. Gilpin Township in Armstrong County passed a model proactive ordinance on April 23, 2026 — 200-ft setbacks, required water-impact and noise studies, grid-capacity verification. Township solicitors can adapt the Gilpin text in days. The window closes the moment a developer files an application. Please add this to the next agenda. Respectfully, [your name]
East Whiteland Township's developer scrapped a 60%-larger expansion in May 2026 after the township invoked the MPC pause. Multiple Columbia County townships passed pauses without a single project being filed, locking in defensive zoning before the rush arrived. Gilpin Township used its proactive ordinance window to pass 200-ft setbacks and a water-impact requirement before any developer had targeted the parcel.
Municipal water-authority service restriction
The Westmoreland Municipal Authority controls Beaver Run. Ypsilanti just used the same authority to ban water service to large data centers.
Public water authorities have statutory discretion over to whom and under what terms they supply water. In May 2026 the Ypsilanti, Michigan water system passed a formal ban on supplying large data centers — using ordinary municipal-authority rulemaking, not a moratorium. The same authority exists for every PA municipal water authority. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC) controls the Beaver Run Reservoir — the same water that already feeds CNX's BP6 waterline to the gas pads in the corridor and that CNX is now applying to draw on directly for fracking.
Brief the MAWC board on the Ypsilanti precedent. The Armstrong County corridor sits downstream and adjacent to MAWC's source water. Push for a formal authority rule prohibiting bulk water sales to data centers exceeding a defined threshold (e.g., 100,000 gallons per day) absent a public hearing and conservation review. The cumulative case is already on the record: CNX's October 2023 NOV for 389,518 gallons of unauthorized withdrawal at the same reservoir; the April 2026 CNX permit application seeking renewed withdrawal authority; the Slickville Trunkline EHB appeal directly affecting Beaver Run tributaries.
Show up to the next MAWC board meeting and ask the board, on the public record, whether MAWC will adopt the Ypsilanti precedent before CNX's renewed Beaver Run withdrawal permit is approved. Board meetings are public; the schedule is at https://www.mawc.org/. Bring two neighbors. Speak under 3 minutes. Reference: 'October 2023 PADEP NOV against CNX for 389,518 gallons of unauthorized Beaver Run withdrawal; CNX's April 2026 renewed withdrawal application; the Slickville Trunkline EHB appeal.' Ask the board to schedule a public hearing on a service-rule restriction modeled on Ypsilanti, MI (May 2026).
Ypsilanti, Michigan water system formally banned data-center service in May 2026 — the first U.S. municipal water utility to do so. Multiple Northern Virginia water utilities have implemented data-center-specific volumetric tiers and conservation surcharges. The pattern is portable.
Push PA OCA to join the Maryland FERC RTEP complaint
Maryland just filed at FERC over $1.6B in data-center transmission costs landing on its ratepayers. PA can join. Constituent letters make the standing.
The Maryland Office of People's Counsel filed a formal FERC complaint on May 7, 2026 challenging PJM's transmission cost-allocation rules for the data-center-driven Regional Transmission Expansion Plan. The complaint argues PJM 'broadly socializes' costs across all PJM ratepayers when the cost-causing data centers are concentrated in specific zones. Synapse Energy Economics projects $5.4B in additional MD cost burden through 2035. PA OCA has filed parallel comments but is not yet a complaint co-plaintiff. Constituent letters to PA OCA make the political record on which the office's decision to join — or file a parallel PA complaint — gets built.
Email PA Acting Consumer Advocate at consumer@paoca.org. Cite the May 7 MD OPC filing by docket number, document the $9B in residential PA ratepayer exposure already flagged by the office's own staff in January 2026 filings on the $11.6B regional transmission plan, and ask the office to join the MD complaint or file a parallel PA complaint. Send a copy to your PA Senator and U.S. Representative for the file.
Send the email below to PA's Acting Consumer Advocate. Copy, paste, fill in your county and signature, hit send. BCC your state senator and U.S. representative so the political record gets built simultaneously.
Dear Acting Consumer Advocate Lawrence, I am a Pennsylvania resident in [your county]. I am writing to request that the PA Office of Consumer Advocate join the Maryland Office of People's Counsel FERC complaint filed May 7, 2026 challenging PJM RTEP cost allocation for data-center-driven transmission. Your office has already documented $9 billion in residential ratepayer exposure across the $11.6B regional transmission plan. Maryland projects $5.4B in additional cost burden through 2035 on its side. Pennsylvania ratepayers are exposed to the same cost-shift on a larger base. Joining the MD complaint — or filing a parallel PA complaint — is the strongest federal venue for protecting PA residential ratepayers from the data-center buildout's transmission costs. Please respond on the record. Respectfully, [your name] [your address]
Multi-state ratepayer-advocate coalition letters at FERC drove the November 2024 Talen/AWS ISA rejection (the original behind-the-meter version, before the front-of-meter relabel). MD OPC's May 2026 RTEP complaint follows the same playbook at a larger scale.
Township and county resolutions
Get every municipality in the corridor on the record.
Nonbinding resolutions adopted by PA officials and county commissioners opposing hyperscale data-center buildout, supporting the four House regulatory bills (HB 1834 / 2150 / 2151 / 2246), and opposing state preemption (HB 502 / SB 991 / SB 939). Each resolution is a press release, a quote source for journalists, and primary-challenge ammunition.
Target municipalities in priority order: Bell, Gilpin (already passed proactive ordinance April 23, 2026), Apollo, Vandergrift, Leechburg, Saltsburg, Avonmore, Plum Creek, Loyalhanna, Washington Twp. (Westmoreland), Center Twp. (Indiana). Then county-level: Westmoreland, Armstrong, Indiana Boards of Commissioners.
Email your township supervisor or borough council member with the resolution text below. They take it to the next public meeting; the board votes; it goes in the minutes. One resolution adopted creates a quotable, datable, primary-source artifact every journalist and regulator references afterward.
Dear [Supervisor name], I am a resident at [your address]. I am formally requesting that the board adopt a resolution at the next public meeting on the following: 1. Opposing the siting of hyperscale data centers in [township name] absent a comprehensive zoning ordinance, water-impact study, noise study, and grid-capacity verification consistent with the model adopted by Gilpin Township (Armstrong Co.) on April 23, 2026. 2. Supporting Pennsylvania House bills HB 1834 (PUC oversight at 25+ MW), HB 2150 (annual reporting), HB 2151 (model municipal ordinance), and HB 2246 (water-use disclosure) — all four of which passed the PA House with bipartisan support and are currently held in the PA Senate. 3. Opposing state-preemption legislation that would strip municipal zoning authority, including HB 502 (Lightning Plan / RESET Board), SB 991 (DEP preselects sites), and SB 939 (regulatory sandbox). Hampden Township unanimously rejected a data-center proposal in 2025. Montour County Commissioners rejected a Talen-Amazon rezoning in February 2026. Five PA municipalities have invoked the 180-day MPC zoning-revision pause this year. The window for municipal action closes when an application is filed. Please confirm in writing that this will be added to the next meeting agenda. Respectfully, [your name]
Hampden Township (Cumberland Co.) unanimous rejection of a data center proposal in 2025. Project Gravity (Archbald) terminated from Fast Track in May 2026 after sustained citizen-led council pressure. Montour County Commissioners rejected a Talen-Amazon rezoning in February 2026.
Coordinated Right-to-Know floods
Force the records officer to a standstill.
Coordinated waves of PA Right-to-Know requests submitted to multiple agencies in the same week — PADEP, the Office of Transformation and Opportunity, the Governor's office, county boards, individual legislators' offices. Each request is narrow, specific, and time-bounded; together they exceed the agency's capacity to stall.
Target PADEP for: every permit, deficiency letter, RFD response, and inspection record involving CNX, EQT, and Homer City Redevelopment in Westmoreland, Indiana, and Armstrong counties since 2022. Target OTO for: every Fast Track application file, every NDA in effect, every developer communication. Target the Governor's office for: every calendar entry and email exchange involving Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, or BlackRock executives.
File a Right-to-Know request with PADEP using the template below. Submit through the PA Open Records Standard RTK form. Agencies must respond within 5 business days; denials are appealable to the PA Office of Open Records. The Heatmap Amazon-emails story came from one request like this.
Records Officer, Under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (65 P.S. § 67.101 et seq.), I am requesting the following public records: 1. All permit applications, plan approvals, deficiency letters, response letters, RFD determinations, and inspection reports issued by PADEP to CNX Resources Corporation, CNX Gas Company LLC, CNX Midstream Operating Company LLC, EQT Corporation, EQT Production Company, Homer City Redevelopment LLC, and Homer City Generation LP, in Westmoreland County, Indiana County, and Armstrong County, from January 1, 2022 to the date of this request. 2. All Notices of Violation, Consent Orders, and Compliance Orders issued by PADEP to the entities listed above in the same counties for the same date range. 3. All correspondence — including email, letters, and meeting minutes — between PADEP staff and representatives of the entities listed above regarding the Homer City Energy Campus (Plan Approval 32-00457A), the BP6 Waterline, the Mamont Impoundment (WMGR123), the Slickville Trunkline, and Beaver Run Reservoir withdrawal applications. Please provide records in electronic format. If any portion of this request is denied, please cite the specific statutory exemption and identify the records withheld. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [your email]
Heatmap News broke the Amazon Fast Track NDA story from a single citizen RTK by Colby Wesner (April 2026). A coordinated wave of 50 requests in 5 days would be unmatched in the modern history of PA records.
Permit-comment floods
Every open window gets hundreds of comments.
PADEP and federal agencies are statutorily required to respond in writing to substantive public comments on open permit applications. Coordinated comment campaigns make that response document the foundation for subsequent Environmental Hearing Board appeals.
Active and upcoming PA comment windows: CNX Chapter 105 Permit E6507223-009 (Beaver Run / Kiski intake, re-noticed April 4, 2026); all Homer City satellite permits; any future Armstrong County parcel filings. Federal: FERC docket ER24-2172 follow-on proceedings, EPA Region 3 Clean Air Act enforcement petitions.
Submit a public comment on a corridor permit using the template below. PADEP must respond in writing in the final permit decision document — that response is what subsequent EHB appeals are built on. The Homer City appeal rests on 571 such comments.
To the Permit Reviewer, I am submitting public comment on [permit number — e.g., Chapter 105 Permit E6507223-009 for CNX Beaver Run intake, or Homer City pipeline NPDES PAD320011, or any open PA Bulletin notice]. I request that PADEP: 1. Hold a public hearing in [Westmoreland / Indiana / Armstrong] County prior to issuing any decision. 2. Substantively respond in writing in the final permit decision document to each of the following concerns: a. Cumulative water impact. CNX received a PADEP Notice of Violation on October 3, 2023 for 389,518 gallons of unauthorized withdrawal from the Beaver Run Reservoir, a High Quality Cold Water Fishery. The April 2026 renewed CNX withdrawal application, the Slickville Trunkline Chapter 105 appeal currently pending before the Environmental Hearing Board, and any new gas-supply pipeline application cannot be evaluated in isolation under PA Constitution Article I § 27. b. Cumulative air impact. PADEP issued Plan Approval 32-00457A for the 4.5 GW Homer City Energy Campus in 157 days versus the projected 285-day timeline. The corridor air baseline is already approaching nonattainment for fine particulates per EPA Region 3 monitoring. c. Environmental-justice review. Multiple corridor communities meet the PADEP Environmental Justice Areas screening criteria; the permit applicant has not produced an EJ analysis. 3. Document in the final decision why each comment was rejected, if it is, with citation to specific regulatory authority. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [your email]
The Homer City air-permit appeal by Clean Air Council, PennFuture, and Sierra Club rests on the 571 public comments submitted during the comment window — DEP issued the permit anyway, and the appeal turned on whether DEP adequately responded to those comments.
Document the corridor
Photograph every truck. Timestamp every visit. Build the parallel record.
Citizen documentation networks photograph and timestamp every visible activity on the parcels — gas-operator trucks, surveying crews, machinery deliveries, official site visits. License plates, vehicle markings, dates, GPS coordinates. The accumulated record becomes evidence in regulatory appeals, civil litigation, and journalism.
Establish observation posts at: the Armstrong County parcel, the CNX BP6 well pad, the Mamont Impoundment access roads, the Beaver Run Reservoir intake site, the Zediker Station perimeter, the Upper Burrell TECfusions campus entrances. Standard equipment: timestamped phone photo, license-plate log, vehicle-description log, weather/wind notes.
Pick one observation post and commit to documenting it once a week. Best starter sites: the CNX BP6 well pad access road, the Mamont Impoundment access roads, the Beaver Run Reservoir intake, the Upper Burrell TECfusions campus entrance, and the Homer City construction perimeter. Standard kit fits in your pocket — phone with location data on, weather log, license-plate log, vehicle-description log. Photograph from public road or posted private property only. Document; do not confront; never approach inside fence lines. Upload weekly photos to the FracTracker Mobile app (free) or email them to a shared Google Drive the corridor coalition maintains.
Standing Rock and Mountain Valley Pipeline both built years of documentation that became primary evidence in federal court. The Bayou Bridge Pipeline documentation network in Louisiana shifted regulatory outcomes after photo evidence contradicted the operator's testimony.
Financial pressure
Move the money — pensions, banks, shareholders, insurers.
The buildout has a balance sheet. Pension boards, retail bank deposits, shareholder resolutions, and insurance underwriting are all places where ordinary residents have standing to be heard. This is the tier that won the divestment fights against Energy Transfer Partners and the South African apartheid economy.
Pension divestment resolutions
PA PSERS holds $833 million in Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. — the fund building Marcellus gas plants for AI data centers in our districts.
Formal resolutions before public retirement-fund boards calling for divestment from the named corridor actors. Documented PA exposure (per primary CAFR filings): **PA PSERS holds $833 million in Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P.** — the very fund that took 49% of the PPL gas-for-AI JV in July 2025. PA SERS holds $31.6M in Blackstone Inc., $803.8M in the Blackstone Keystone Fund, plus direct CUSIP positions in CNX ($1.52M), EQT ($6.62M common + $1.1M notes), PPL ($5.84M), Constellation ($17.83M + $1.5M bonds), and ~$2.28B in the hyperscaler offtakers (MSFT/AMZN/GOOG/META/ORCL). Westmoreland County Employees Retirement Fund (custodian PNC Advisors) does not publish CUSIP-level holdings — RTK request is the path.
Comment at every PA PSERS Board meeting (quarterly, Harrisburg — schedule at https://www.pa.gov/agencies/psers/). The $833M Blackstone Infrastructure LP commitment is the single sharpest fiduciary-conflict story in the entire dataset. Engage PSEA (Pennsylvania State Education Association), NEA-PA, and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers as institutional voices for member-beneficiaries. PA SERS Board similarly meets quarterly; the same testimony works there. For Westmoreland County: file Right-To-Know with the County Controller for current custodian-statement holdings, then comment at County Commissioners' meetings.
Three steps, 15 minutes total. First, email your PSEA local representative with the template below to request a chapter resolution. Then sign up for the next PSERS Board public-comment slot (link below). Then file an RTK to the Westmoreland County Controller for the current pension holdings.
Dear [PSEA local rep name], I am a [member / family member / community resident] writing to request that the local chapter consider a resolution at the next meeting on the following: The PSERS FY2025 Year-End Asset Listing (publicly filed) documents a $833,412,106 LP commitment to Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P., plus $127,401,180 in the Blackstone Infrastructure Partners Europe (CYM) L.P. parallel fund. Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. is the same fund that, on July 15, 2025, took a 49% stake in a joint venture with PPL Corporation to build new Marcellus-gas-fired power plants in Pennsylvania to supply AI data-center load (first plant targeted 2031). Pennsylvania teachers' retirement money is the equity stack of the gas-for-AI buildout in our own school districts. I am asking the chapter to adopt a resolution requesting that: 1. The PSERS Board publicly review the prudent-investor basis for the LP commitment given Blackstone Infrastructure's documented 49% PA-JV stake. 2. The PSERS Investment Office file a public report on whether the LP side-letter contains any restriction on Blackstone's use of fund capital for in-state gas-fired-generation development. 3. PSEA leadership transmit the resolution to the PSERS Board in advance of the next quarterly meeting for the public-comment record. Primary source: PSERS FY2025 Year-End Final Asset Listing — https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/psers/documents/transparency/financial-reports/year-end-listing/fy%202025%20-%20final%20asset%20listing.pdf Respectfully, [your name] [your school district / county]
Standing Rock divestment campaign moved roughly $4 billion out of banks financing Energy Transfer Partners. Stop the Money Pipeline coalition has tracked $7+ billion in fossil-fuel divestment from U.S. public funds since 2020. NYC Comptroller's office has formally divested NYC pension funds from major fossil financiers using the same fiduciary-prudence frame.
Bank and underwriter pressure
PNC banks both CNX and EQT. Wells Fargo banks PPL. Citi banks Talen. JPMorgan banks Constellation. Move your account.
The credit facilities and bond underwriting that finance the corridor are concentrated in a small number of named banks — each disclosed in primary SEC filings. Pittsburgh-headquartered **PNC Bank** is administrative agent on both CNX's $2.25B revolving credit facility (May 17, 2024) and EQT's revised credit agreement (July 22, 2024). **Wells Fargo** is administrative agent on PPL's $1.5B revolving credit facility (Feb 29, 2024 amended). **Citibank** is administrative agent on Talen Energy's post-bankruptcy credit agreement (May 17, 2023; Amendment No. 4 Dec 20, 2024). **JPMorgan Chase** is administrative agent on Constellation Energy's $7B revolving credit facility (plus $4.5B incremental). On the bond side, **JPMorgan led EQT's $750M senior notes (Jan 2024)** with MUFG, TD, Wells Fargo, and Citi as joint book-runners; **Morgan Stanley, MUFG, Truist, Wells Fargo, BNY Mellon, Huntington, and TD Securities** underwrote PPL's $750M 5.250% senior notes (Aug 2024). The local angle: **PNC is headquartered in Pittsburgh; the same Pittsburgh banks that finance the buildout have branches in every county on this corridor.**
The single highest-leverage local target is **PNC** — Pittsburgh-headquartered, both CNX and EQT's syndicated-credit anchor, and the custodian for the Westmoreland County Employees Retirement Fund. PNC has dozens of branches across Armstrong, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties. Account migration campaigns at PNC branches in the corridor (especially Indiana, Kittanning, Greensburg, and New Kensington) generate immediate local-press exposure and direct accountability conversations with branch managers. Also relevant: **S&T Bank** is headquartered in Indiana, PA — S&T Bank's PAC donated $2,500 to Sen. Pittman's 2019 campaign. Branch presence is concentrated in the corridor. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citi have less local branch density but are top-targets for national coalition pressure via Mazaska Talks and Stop the Money Pipeline.
Three steps. Walk into your branch. Move your account to a credit union (alternatives in the helper links). Then send the email template below to the bank's investor-relations or sustainability team so the closure shows up in their internal reporting. The template below is for PNC — adapt the company name and SEC filing date for Wells Fargo, Citi, or JPMorgan.
To PNC Investor Relations, I am a former PNC customer in [your county], Pennsylvania. I have closed my account because PNC Bank, N.A. is the administrative agent on: 1. CNX Resources Corporation's Fourth Amended & Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility ($2.25B borrowing base, $1.4B elected commitments, maturing May 17, 2029) — disclosed in CNX's 8-K filed May 17, 2024 (SEC EDGAR). 2. EQT Corporation's Fourth Amended & Restated Credit Agreement — disclosed in EQT's 10-K for FY2024 (SEC EDGAR). CNX is the operator that received a PADEP Notice of Violation on October 3, 2023 for 389,518 gallons of unauthorized withdrawal from the Beaver Run Reservoir (a High Quality Cold Water Fishery) and that is currently applying to renew that withdrawal authorization for fracking. EQT is supplying up to 665,000 MMBTU per day to the Homer City Energy Campus — a 4.5 GW gas-fired data-center campus in Indiana County under construction adjacent to Pennsylvania residential communities. As a Pennsylvania ratepayer paying record-high PJM capacity-market charges driven by data-center load growth, I will not deposit money at the institution that anchors the senior credit of the operators driving that load. Please pass this notice to PNC's sustainability and ESG teams. Respectfully, [your name] [former PNC customer] [your county, PA]
Mazaska Talks ($DAPL divestment) closed an estimated 50,000+ retail accounts at banks financing the Dakota Access Pipeline. Wells Fargo lost over $400 million in deposits to the campaign before agreeing to revise its lending practices. The Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 report documents JPMorgan as the world's #1 fossil financier ($53.5 billion in 2024 alone); concentrated PA pressure on JPMorgan adds to a coordinated national campaign with measurable balance-sheet impact.
Shareholder resolutions
If you own $2,000 of CNX, EQT, BX, BLK in an IRA, you can file a binding proposal on the proxy.
SEC Rule 14a-8 lets any shareholder who has owned at least $2,000 of stock continuously for at least three years (or $15,000 for one year, or $25,000 for six months) file a shareholder proposal for inclusion on the company's annual proxy statement. The proposal goes on the SEC-public record (DEF 14A), is voted by every shareholder, and the company's response is part of the regulatory filing. Even when proposals lose the vote, the proxy debate becomes citable in financial press. CNX has had 542 PADEP violations since 2020 and a 2021 criminal conviction for emissions misreporting — the documented basis for a water-use-disclosure or compliance-risk shareholder proposal is already on the record.
Each of CNX (NYSE: CNX), EQT (NYSE: EQT), Blackstone (NYSE: BX), BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), PPL (NYSE: PPL), Constellation (NASDAQ: CEG), and Talen (NASDAQ: TLN) has an annual meeting on the public record. Any PA resident with a brokerage account or IRA holding at least $2,000 of these stocks for three years qualifies as a co-filer. Concrete proposal subjects with documented PA-corridor basis: (a) water-use and water-quality disclosure at CNX/EQT given the Beaver Run / Kiskiminetas footprint and CNX's October 2023 NOV; (b) methane-leak reporting at CNX/EQT given Howarth & Jacobson 2024 LNG lifecycle research and the 2022 EQT frac-out at Freeport Township; (c) lobbying-expense disclosure at all named companies given the documented Data Center Coalition PA Q4 2025 lobbying spend; (d) climate-risk disclosure at Blackstone tied to the PPL JV's 2030/31 commissioning timeline.
Check your brokerage or IRA for any of CNX, EQT, BX, BLK, PPL, CEG, TLN. If you qualify (≥$2,000 held for 3 years; or ≥$15,000 for 1 year; or ≥$25,000 for 6 months), email As You Sow with the template below. They draft for free and coordinate filing windows for the next proxy season.
Dear As You Sow team, I am a Pennsylvania resident in the Armstrong / Indiana / Westmoreland corridor and an individual shareholder of [ticker symbol] meeting the SEC Rule 14a-8 eligibility threshold ([$2,000 / 3 years] OR [$15,000 / 1 year] OR [$25,000 / 6 months]). I would like to co-file a shareholder proposal for the company's next annual meeting on the following topic: [Choose one and personalize:] — Water-use and water-quality disclosure (basis: CNX PADEP NOV of October 3, 2023 for 389,518 gallons of unauthorized Beaver Run withdrawal; ongoing Slickville Trunkline EHB appeal) — Methane-leak reporting (basis: 2022 EQT frac-out at Freeport Township documented in Yale Environment 360, Dec 2025) — Lobbying-expense disclosure (basis: Data Center Coalition's Q4 2025 PA lobbying spend per Spotlight PA / NOTUS Jan 22, 2026) — Climate-risk and regulatory-exposure disclosure (basis: PSERS' $833M LP commitment to Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P., which holds a 49% stake in the PPL JV for PA gas-fired generation) Please let me know what eligibility documentation you need (typically a broker letter confirming the ownership period) and what your timeline is for the 2027 proxy season. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [your email + phone for As You Sow to follow up]
Shareholder resolutions have moved Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, and Duke Energy on emissions disclosure. The 2021 Engine No. 1 / ExxonMobil board contest (a small activist hedge fund won three board seats with ~$12M of stock) is the proof of concept that small shareholder coalitions can shift corporate strategy on climate issues even at the largest oil major. As You Sow files 50+ resolutions per year and has measurable hit rate on disclosure proposals.
Insurance underwriter pressure
AON wrote $2.5B of data-center insurance. Marsh wrote €1B for the same. AIG's 2022 fossil policy doesn't cover new gas plants.
Every hyperscale data-center construction project requires construction-all-risks, delay-in-start-up, and operational property/business-interruption coverage placed before ground-breaks. **AON plc** has expanded its Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program to **$2.5 billion** and claims to broker '1 in 3 U.S. data centre developers.' **Marsh McLennan**'s **Nimbus facility (June 2025) is €1B (~$1.2B) of construction-all-risks plus €350M delay-in-start-up** supported by Lloyd's syndicates. **AIG**'s 2022 net-zero commitment excludes coal, oil sands, and Arctic energy — but **explicitly does NOT cover new natural-gas plants**, leaving the Homer City and PPL-Blackstone JV class fully insurable. **Lloyd's of London managing agents** wrote ~$1.95B in fossil-fuel premiums in 2024 vs. $425M in clean energy; only 5 of 51 syndicates have new-coal AND new-oil/gas-field restrictions.
Two corridor-specific levers. (1) The Homer City project's general contractor is **Kiewit Power Constructors** — its construction-period insurance package is the highest-value single placement in the corridor. The PADEP construction permit file should disclose the surety and CAR insurer; file a Right-To-Know to PADEP's Northwest Regional Office for the Homer City contractor's insurance disclosure. (2) The PPL-Blackstone JV is still in pre-construction phase — letter campaigns to AIG, AON, and Marsh corporate sustainability teams should cite the documented operator loss history in the corridor (CNX's October 2023 NOV; the 2022 EQT frac-out at Freeport Township that contaminated Liz Pebley's well with methane, arsenic, and barium) as evidence of underwriting risk that has been priced too low.
Send the email below to AON's CEO and Marsh McLennan's CEO. CC Insure Our Future so the campaign sees the volume. Copy, paste, fill in your name and county, hit send.
Dear Mr. Case / Mr. Doyle, I am a Pennsylvania resident in the Armstrong/Indiana/Westmoreland corridor. Your firms broker the largest U.S. data-center construction insurance programs (AON $2.5B Lifecycle; Marsh €1B Nimbus). I am writing to formally request disclosure of whether your firm has placed, or is being asked to place, construction-period or operational coverage for: 1. Homer City Energy Campus — 4.5 GW gas-fired data-center campus, Knighthead Capital majority owner, Kiewit general contractor. 2. The PPL Corporation – Blackstone Infrastructure Partners joint venture announced July 15, 2025 for Marcellus-gas plants in PA. The corridor operator loss history is documented: CNX received a PADEP Notice of Violation on October 3, 2023 for 389,518 gallons of unauthorized withdrawal from a High Quality Cold Water Fishery. EQT had a 2022 frac-out at Freeport Township that contaminated a resident well with methane, arsenic, and barium. These are public-record loss events your underwriters should be pricing. Respectfully, [your name] [your county, PA]
Insure Our Future coalition successfully pressured 41 major insurers to restrict coal underwriting and 18 to restrict tar-sands underwriting between 2017-2024. The same playbook is being adapted for U.S. gas infrastructure under the coalition's 2026 priorities. Specific 2024 wins include Allianz, Generali, Aviva, Swiss Re, and AXA restricting new-fossil underwriting.
Who underwrites this. Where the money sits. What moves it.
Every entry below cites an SEC filing, a pension CAFR, or a primary disclosure. Each carries the documented dollar figure and the specific pressure point — which bank, which board, which proxy season.
PA PSERS holds $833 millionin Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. — the very fund that took 49% of the PPL JV that will burn Marcellus gas to feed AI data centers in PA. The state's teachers' retirement money is the equity stack of the buildout in their own districts. Every other line in this ledger is in service of that one.
PPL Corporation and Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. — 51/49 — announced July 15, 2025, to build new gas plants in Marcellus territory specifically for data-center load. First plant targeted 2031.
PPL Corporation × Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P.
PPL Corporation 51% / Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. 49%, ratable expenses and distributions. Marcellus/Utica gas-fired generation siting; data-center customer not yet identified at announcement. Project finance structure not yet publicly disclosed (no bond prospectus, syndicated-loan filing, or JV debt placement filed as of this research date).
This is the single fiduciary-conflict story of the entire ledger. Blackstone's equity comes out of Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. — the same fund in which PSERS holds $833M. PA teachers' retirement is the equity stack of the gas-for-AI buildout in their own districts. PSERB Board public-comment period; FOIA the LP side-letter and capital-call schedule; coordinate with PSEA (teachers' union) on fiduciary-duty resolution.
Where Pennsylvanians' retirement money already sits in this buildout. Direct equity holdings via CUSIP-level disclosures. The PSERS LP stake in Blackstone Infrastructure Partners is the most damaging conflict on this page.
PA PSERS · Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. (LP stake)
PSERS holds $833,412,106 in Blackstone Infrastructure Partners L.P. plus $127,401,180 in Blackstone Infrastructure Partners Europe (CYM) L.P., per the PSERS FY2025 Year-End Final Asset Listing.
PSERB Board meetings are open; Investment Committee testimony is on the record. PSEA (Pennsylvania State Education Association) has fiduciary standing on behalf of teacher-beneficiaries. Coordinate a public letter from PSEA, NEA-PA, and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers demanding the LP stake be reviewed under prudent-investor rule.
PA SERS · direct equity holdings of named buildout actors
CNX $1.52M; EQT common $6.62M + $304K (5.700% notes) + $796K (5.750% notes); PPL $5.84M; Constellation Energy $17.83M + $1.5M bonds; Blackstone Inc. $31.59M; Blackstone Keystone Fund (LP) $803.84M; BlackRock $38.07M. Plus Big Tech hyperscaler offtaker exposure totaling ~$2.28B (MSFT $824.66M, AMZN $519.87M, GOOG $543.45M, META $323.74M, ORCL $65.85M). Plus insurers: AIG $12.10M, Marsh McLennan $26.35M, AON $17.75M.
SERS Board has 11 members; public comment is statutorily protected. The dual exposure — long both the operators AND the hyperscaler buyers — means SERS profits on both sides while PA ratepayers pay the bill. Frame the fiduciary case against the cost-shift the office is supposed to protect against.
Westmoreland County Employees' Retirement Fund
Custodian: PNC Advisors. Investment monitor: Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC. Statement of Investment Guidelines published; annual audit does not publish CUSIP-level holdings as a one-click PDF. Right-to-Know request to the County Controller is the path to confirmed direct CNX / EQT / PPL / BX positions.
County Retirement Board is a 5-member elected body — every Westmoreland County resident has direct standing to comment. Commissioner meetings are the public venue. File a Right-To-Know request with the County Controller for the most recent custodian-statement holdings.
The Marcellus gas producers whose product feeds the campuses. Both anchor their syndicated credit at PNC Bank, headquartered in Pittsburgh — local press leverage is the differentiator.
CNX Resources Corporation
Fourth Amended & Restated Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility (May 17, 2024) with $2.25B borrowing base, $1.4B elected commitments, matures May 17, 2029. Administrative & collateral agent: PNC Bank, N.A. Plus $400M 7.250% Senior Notes due 2032 (Feb 2024), $200M tap (Jan 2025), and a subsequent $500M senior-notes offering.
PNC is headquartered in Pittsburgh — the single highest-leverage local bank target. Account migration with regional press coverage; meetings with PNC ESG / sustainability staff; coordinate with Mazaska Talks divestment playbook. Bondholder pressure via Climate Bonds Initiative.
EQT Corporation
Fourth Amended & Restated Credit Agreement (July 22, 2024). Administrative agent: PNC Bank, N.A. Pre-2024 syndicate: MUFG, Wells Fargo, RBC, Mizuho, Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, JPMorgan. $750M 5.750% Senior Notes due 2034 (Jan 17, 2024): joint book-running underwriters JPMorgan ($95.6M), MUFG ($76.9M), TD Securities ($76.9M), Wells Fargo ($76.9M), Citigroup ($45M).
PNC again — concentration multiplies the local press leverage. JPMorgan is the world's #1 fossil financier per Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 ($53.5B in 2024) — bondholder and shareholder pressure converge with the broader Stop the Money Pipeline campaign.
The private-equity firms putting equity into the data-center developers. Knighthead (Homer City) is private with no public bond stack. Blackstone has both equity and a 49% utility-JV stake — see the dedicated section below.
Knighthead Capital Management
SEC-registered investment adviser (CRD 157483; SEC# 801-73337). AUM ~$15.79B (May 2024 Form ADV). Co-founded 2008 by Thomas Wagner and Ara Cohen. Knighthead has held equity in Homer City for ~8 years; HCR press materials assert >$1B invested in Homer City construction to date but this figure does not appear in any public bond prospectus or 8-K.
Knighthead is a private investment adviser — equity-side levers are LP pressure (especially public-pension LPs). The Form ADV (Item 7.B / Schedule D) lists prime brokers — pull via SEC IAPD structured XML. Coordinate with GoldenTree Asset Management investor pressure (also SEC-registered, CRD 112753).
The investor-owned utilities and independent power producers that contract with the hyperscaler customers. Each is heavily owned by the Big Three index funds.
PPL Corporation
$1.5B Revolving Credit Facility (Feb 29, 2024 Amended & Restated; extended to Dec 6, 2030). Administrative agent: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. $750M 5.250% Senior Notes due 2034 (Aug 9, 2024) underwritten by Morgan Stanley ($150M), MUFG ($150M), Truist ($150M), Wells Fargo ($150M), BNY Mellon ($37.5M), Huntington ($37.5M), TD Securities ($37.5M).
Wells Fargo is a top-5 Mazaska-tracked target bank; account-migration campaigns have prior-art track record. Huntington is regional (Ohio / Western PA), and branch-level pressure is feasible in the corridor.
Talen Energy Corporation
Post-bankruptcy Credit Agreement (May 17, 2023; multiple amendments). Administrative & collateral agent: Citibank, N.A. Joint lead arrangers include Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Amendment No. 4 (Dec 20, 2024) extended Revolver to Dec 20, 2029 and upsized to $900M; L/C facility $1.1B.
Citi is a top-5 BoCC fossil financier — coordinated pressure converges with the broader campaign. The AWS counterparty is the real lever: Amazon shareholder resolutions and AWS enterprise-customer pressure (Climate Voice, employees) move this more than Talen's bankers.
DOE Loan Programs Office financing for nuclear restart adjacent to data-center demand. Federal taxpayer guarantee.
Constellation Energy · Crane Clean Energy Center (Three Mile Island restart)
$1 BILLION DOE Loan Programs Office loan closed November 18, 2025 under the Energy Dominance Financing Program — first-of-its-kind concurrent conditional commitment + financial close. Separately: $7B Revolving Credit Facility with JPMorgan Chase as administrative agent. $900M 5.750% Green Senior Notes due 2054 (March 2024) underwritten by Barclays, Crédit Agricole, Mizuho.
DOE LPO is a federal program — Congressional appropriations and oversight is the lever. PA delegation (Sens. McCormick, Fetterman) sit on relevant committees. FOIA the loan covenants; petition the DOE Inspector General on the novel concurrent-commitment structure. The 'green' labeling of the $900M notes is contested when proceeds support nuclear restart adjacent to data-center demand — Climate Bonds Initiative complaint potential.
The asset managers whose passive funds hold every name above. Pressure here is proxy-resolution and shareholder-vote work at annual meetings.
BlackRock, Inc.
13F-HR filings on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0001364742). Top-5 institutional holder of each named ticker per aggregated 13F data. Co-founder of the Global AI Infrastructure Partnership (GAIIP / AIP) with Microsoft, GIP, and MGX (Abu Dhabi). AIP plus xAI acquired Aligned Data Centers for $40B in October 2025.
NYC Comptroller / NYC pension proxy resolutions; State Attorney General fiduciary-duty letters (NY AG Letitia James precedent). BlackRock 2026 AGM proxy season is the formal lever. AIP exposure means BlackRock is directly inside the PA-adjacent data-center infrastructure stack, not just a passive holder.
Vanguard Group, Inc.
13F-HR filings on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000102909). Mutually-owned fund family.
Vanguard Investor Voice (vote-pass-through pilot) is the live lever — individual Vanguard investors can now direct their share of proxy votes. SEC complaint angle on passive-vote disclosure remains open.
State Street Corporation
13F-HR filings on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000093751). State Street Global Advisors holds 32.5M sh PPL (~4.35%).
Boston-HQ; less-mobilized institutional governance shop than BLK. Letter campaigns to State Street Stewardship team; coordinated with Massachusetts AG and Treasurer.
The brokers and underwriters whose construction-all-risks, delay-in-start-up, and operational property cover have to be placed before any of these projects ground-breaks.
AON plc
AON Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program expanded to $2.5B of construction-all-risks + delay-in-start-up + operational PD/BI cover. AON broker base claims '1 in 3 U.S. data centre developers.' Brian DeBruin named as broker of natural-gas and nuclear forced-outage programs (2024 Power Broker).
Public letter from Insure Our Future / Climate Defiance to AON CEO Greg Case demanding disclosure of any PA-corridor data-center placement (Homer City, PPL-Blackstone JV, TECfusions). ShareAction shareholder resolution at AON AGM. PA insurance commissioner inquiry.
Marsh McLennan · Marsh broker
Nimbus facility (June 2025): €1B (~$1.2B) construction-all-risks plus €350M (~$475M) delay-in-start-up for large-scale UK and European data-center construction. Supported by Lloyd's syndicates and London/European companies. Also brokers TerraPower's Wyoming nuclear project.
MMC as broker influences the placement panel — leverage is via panel insurers (Lloyd's syndicates listed below). Insure Our Future broker-pressure campaign template; ShareAction MMC AGM resolution.
AIG
AIG 2022 commitments: stop underwriting/investment in new coal plants, thermal coal mines, oil sands, Arctic energy; phase-out by Jan 1, 2030 of companies with ≥30% coal/oil-sands revenue or ≥30% coal-generated electricity. **2023 status: still top-10 fossil insurer; ~$500M in fossil premium; ~$24.2B in fossil investments. The 2022 policy does NOT cover new natural-gas plants** — Homer City and the PPL-Blackstone JV class remain insurable.
AIG 2026 AGM: Insure Our Future / Public Citizen co-sponsor a shareholder resolution to extend the exclusion to new natural-gas plants. This is a campaign gap that the PA buildout makes urgent.
Lloyd's of London managing agents
Only 5 of 51 Lloyd's managing agents have new-coal AND new-oil/gas-field restrictions (Argenta, AXA XL, Munich Re Syndicate, Probitas, SCOR). 18 'slow movers' (Beazley, Hiscox, MS Amlin, Tokio Marine Kiln). 28 'ultimate laggards' including Chaucer Syndicates. Fossil-fuel premiums growing ~2.4%/yr 2020-2024, bucking global insurer decline.
Lloyd's Council pressure via UK MPs and NGO coalition; syndicate-level pressure via Insure Our Future's Lloyd's-specific project. PA corridor is downstream of Lloyd's underwriting decisions even when the policyholder is U.S.
Every dollar figure on this page is sourced to an SEC filing, a public pension Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), a corporate press release, or a peer-reviewed scorecard. Aggregator (13F) data is used only where the primary filing is named and linkable. No personal financial information about individuals is included.
Several entries flag verification gaps — the Knighthead prime-broker list (Form ADV Item 7.B), Westmoreland and Allegheny County pension CUSIP-level holdings, and the Homer-City / PPL-Blackstone-JV insurance placements. Closing each gap is a Right-To-Know request or an SEC IAPD XML pull away.
Disrupt the timeline
Make the project cost more than it earns.
Sustained physical presence at parcels, surveyor turn-aways at posted property lines, and (where the campaign chooses to escalate) the lock-on and tree-sit toolkit that delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline by five years and inflated its cost from $3.5B to $8B. Some of this is civil disobedience with known legal consequences. Participants accept the cost as the strategy.
Sustained presence at the parcels
Encampment-style observation; legal observers; rotating shifts.
Continuous observation presence at the Armstrong County parcel, Upper Burrell campus perimeter, Zediker Station boundary, and Homer City construction-access routes. Rotating volunteer shifts. Trained legal observers from the National Lawyers Guild and ACLU PA on site. Daily incident logs; weekly reports to allied journalists.
Coordinate with Three Rivers Waterkeeper and Mountain Watershed Association for siting and rotation. Establish observation posts on public rights-of-way and any allied-landowner property abutting the parcels. Standard kit: timestamped camera, weather log, legal-observer green hat, ACLU pocket card.
Sign up for a four-hour shift at a corridor observation post — same protocol as the Tier-1 Document the Corridor card, but rotating across volunteers so the post is staffed every day. Email the National Lawyers Guild PA chapter at info@nlg.org to be added to the legal-observer training list. Standard kit: timestamped phone, weather log, license-plate log, vehicle log, NLG-issued green hat (provided on request), ACLU pocket card (printable from aclupa.org). Photograph only from public rights-of-way or posted private property; document; do not confront.
Standing Rock (2016-17) sustained ~10,000 person-presence at its peak and produced the federal-court evidence that subsequently forced an Environmental Impact Statement on the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Surveyor turn-away on posted property
Map the option-agreement web before the public filing.
Under PA law, posted private property may refuse entry to surveyors without a court order. Property owners and authorized residents can lawfully turn surveying crews away at the property line, document who they work for, and trace the developer's pre-application activity before any zoning filing makes the parcel public.
Train Armstrong County residents on the PA trespass posting statute (18 Pa.C.S. § 3503) and the proper documentation protocol: photograph the crew, photograph the vehicle and any markings, photograph the survey equipment, request company name and contact, log on a shared spreadsheet. Refuse politely, do not threaten, do not touch. Repeat as needed.
Post your property today. PA 18 Pa.C.S. § 3503 makes posted private property off-limits to surveyors without a court order. Two steps: (1) Order or print 'No Trespassing' / 'No Surveying Without Written Permission' signs (a 12-pack at a local farm-supply store costs ~$15; PennFuture sells corridor-specific signs). Post them every 100 feet along your property line, at every entrance, and at any access road. (2) Save this script to your phone for when a crew shows up: 'This is posted private property. I am not granting access. Please leave the property line. What company are you working for and who is your supervisor?' Photograph the crew, the vehicle, any markings, and the survey equipment from your side of the line. Do not touch their equipment. Do not threaten. Log to the corridor shared spreadsheet within 24 hours.
Property-owner turn-aways slowed pre-FERC pipeline surveying on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and contributed to the project's eventual cancellation in July 2020.
Construction blockades and lock-ons
Civil disobedience with deliberate arrest. Accept the consequence as the strategy.
Non-violent direct action at construction-site entrances: human chains, lock-ons (participants physically lock themselves to equipment using sleeve devices), tree-sits at heritage trees on the construction route. Participants are trained in advance, accept arrest, and have legal-defense funds and bail networks pre-arranged.
Sites of highest leverage: Homer City Energy Campus access roads, TECfusions Upper Burrell construction gates, any active Armstrong County construction once filed. Coordinate with Climate Defiance and the Yellow Finch alumni network for training. PA charges typically: defiant trespass (misdemeanor), disorderly conduct (summary). Felony enhancement is possible under critical-infrastructure statutes — know what you are signing up for before you sign.
If you are considering Tier-3 civil disobedience with deliberate arrest, do nothing rash today. Three preparatory steps instead: (1) Register for Climate Defiance training at https://climatedefiance.org/ — they screen, train, and pair you with experienced action leads; the next training cohort is announced via their email list. (2) Contact the National Lawyers Guild PA chapter (info@nlg.org) for the next legal-observer training and the regional bail-fund contact. (3) Read the PA critical-infrastructure statute (18 Pa.C.S. § 3309 et seq.) and the Climate Disobedience Center's 'Know Your Rights' guide before any action — felony exposure exists for certain pipeline-adjacent sites in PA, and informed consent is the difference between an arrest that moves the campaign and an arrest that ends a participant's career.
Mountain Valley Pipeline blockades delayed that project by more than five years and inflated its cost from $3.5B announced to over $8B realized. The Yellow Finch tree-sit alone added years of delay. Standing Rock blockades produced the Army Corps environmental review.
Hyperscaler-customer cancellation campaigns
If a customer signs the check, the customer can be moved.
Coordinated cancellation-threat campaigns at the procurement levels of the hyperscaler customers buying capacity from PA-sited data centers. PA school districts, municipalities, parishes, hospitals, universities, and businesses collectively spend tens of millions per year on Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, AWS, and Oracle Cloud. Even threatening cancellation moves contract-renewal negotiations.
Target Westmoreland, Armstrong, and Indiana county school district IT directors, municipal IT contracts, and Catholic Diocese of Greensburg procurement. The undisclosed Homer City hyperscale customer is the most consequential pressure point — when their identity surfaces, the campaign moves to their entire PA customer base.
Email your school district's IT director or procurement officer with the template below. Most Westmoreland, Armstrong, and Indiana county districts run Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace under multi-year contracts; the next renewal is typically June or July of each year. Same template adapts for your parish, municipality, hospital, or employer.
Dear [Director name], I am a resident in [school district name] writing about the district's Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace / AWS / Oracle Cloud contract. Pennsylvania is the principal target region for the U.S. hyperscale-AI gas-fired data-center buildout. The 4.5 GW Homer City Energy Campus (Indiana Co.), the TECfusions Upper Burrell campus (Westmoreland Co.), the QTS Luzerne campus (Salem Twp.), and several others have been announced or are under construction. Each requires 24/7 gas-fired generation in Pennsylvania communities. The undisclosed hyperscale customer at Homer City may be the same vendor the district contracts with for productivity software. I am asking that, before the next contract renewal, the district: 1. Formally request that the vendor disclose in writing whether any portion of the district's compute capacity is or will be served from Homer City, TECfusions, QTS Luzerne, or any PA-sited data center under construction. 2. Request the vendor's environmental-impact disclosures for PA-sited capacity, including water use, methane lifecycle, and ratepayer cost-shift documentation. 3. Add a contract renewal clause permitting the district to terminate without penalty if PA-sited capacity is documented to drive material increases in residential electricity rates in the district's service area. This is a procurement-due-diligence question consistent with the district's fiduciary duty to taxpayers. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [parent of / resident of / employee of — district relationship]
The #NoTechForApartheid campaign at Google and Amazon produced public commitments to review Project Nimbus. Employee-led campaigns at Microsoft moved that company's posture on facial-recognition contracts with ICE.
Make politicians personally accountable
No public event without the question on camera.
Elected officials are the political face of the buildout in Harrisburg. Bird-dog every public appearance, convene the town halls they refuse to hold, recruit primary challengers now, and file ethics complaints in series. Public-figure standards mean discomfort is legal; the discomfort is the point.
Bird-dogging public appearances
No public event without the question on camera.
Coordinated presence at every public appearance by Pittman, Stefano, Cooper, McCormick, Thompson, Reschenthaler, and Shapiro. Prepared specific questions about documented receipts. Cameras rolling. Video published to social media and shared with journalists within the hour.
Calendar surveillance: monitor each official's public schedule (press releases, campaign events, town halls, fundraisers, ribbon-cuttings, parades). Coordinate two-person teams: one asks, one films. Sample questions are documented on the /the-network page receipts; ask by line item.
Open the §4-cal Public-appearance calendar below in this same tier. Pick one scheduled appearance in the next 30 days. Commit to attending in a two-person team — one person asks, one person films horizontally. Use a prepared one-sentence question from the documented receipts (e.g., for Pittman: 'Senator, will you release HB 1834 / 2150 / 2151 / 2246 from the Senate before Labor Day, given that the Quinnipiac poll shows 53% of Republicans in this district oppose data-center development?'). Post the clip to social media and email it to TribLive (news@triblive.com) and the Indiana Gazette tip line within the hour. Climate Defiance trains volunteers at https://climatedefiance.org/.
Climate Defiance bird-dogging produced viral moments that shifted Sen. Joe Manchin's public posture and forced acknowledgments from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, John Kerry, Mitch McConnell, and others. The clips circulate for years.
People's town halls (the empty chair)
If they refuse to show up, the empty chair is a campaign ad.
Citizens convene public town halls in officials' districts on the data-center issue. The official is invited with formal notice. If they decline or fail to appear, the event proceeds with an empty chair photographed and published. Local journalists are invited; the photograph becomes the news event.
Convene Armstrong County and Indiana County town halls specifically inviting Sen. Pittman. Convene Greensburg-area town halls inviting Sen. Ward. Convene Murrysville town halls inviting Rep. Cooper. Publish the empty-chair photos to TribLive, Indiana Gazette, the local social-media groups, and the Pittsburgh Media Partnership tips line.
Pick a venue and a date. Send the formal invitation letter below to the official's scheduler. If they decline or do not respond within 14 days, hold the event with an empty chair. Photograph the chair. Send the photo to TribLive, the Indiana Gazette, and Spotlight PA tips.
Dear [Scheduler / Chief of Staff], A coalition of constituents in [Bell Township / Indiana County / Murrysville / your community] is convening a public town hall on the gas-AI data-center buildout in our region. Event details: Date: [proposed date — pick a Saturday morning ~3 weeks out] Time: [proposed time — e.g., 10:00 AM] Location: [proposed venue — local library, VFW post, church hall, fire station] Estimated attendance: 75–150 constituents Format: 30 minutes of brief constituent statements, 45 minutes of Q&A with the official, 15 minutes of closing. We are formally inviting Senator/Representative [name] to attend and respond to constituent questions. Topics will include: PA Senate consideration of HB 1834 / 2150 / 2151 / 2246; SB 991 / SB 939 state-preemption bills; PJM ratepayer cost-shift; the documented CNX and EQT loss history in this corridor. Please confirm attendance, or formally decline, within 14 days. If we do not receive a response, we will proceed with the event and document an empty chair representing the official. Local journalists from TribLive, Indiana Gazette, WESA, and the Pittsburgh Media Partnership will be invited to cover. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [your phone for confirmation]
Empty-chair tactics have been used effectively against members of Congress nationally during health-care debates; the photograph travels further than the meeting itself would have.
Recruit primary challengers now
Don't wait for the cycle. Build the bench in the off-year.
Active recruitment of primary opponents for state legislators who are blocking constituent-protective legislation. Filing deadlines, signature requirements, and fundraising infrastructure are organized in the off-year, not the election year.
Sen. Pittman (R-41): seat is mid-term until 2028; the 2028 primary recruitment begins now. Sen. Stefano (R-32): just won 74% in May 2026 primary against weak challenger; serious 2028 recruitment begins now. Rep. Cooper (R-55): on the ballot in 2026; the time for a challenge is past for this cycle, but a 2028 challenger should be recruited now.
Three steps. (1) Identify two or three potential challengers — names that already appear in local civic life (school board members, township supervisors, small-business owners, retired teachers, returning veterans). Don't worry about asking them to run yet. (2) Email Pennsylvania Stands Up at info@pastandsup.org with subject 'Candidate recruitment: PA Senate District 41 / 32 — 2028 cycle.' They run a structured candidate-recruitment pipeline and will share their assessment tools. (3) Build the donor and signature list now: PA Senate candidates need ~500 valid signatures in the district to make the ballot; off-year is when those lists get assembled in spreadsheets, not the spring of the election year.
Justice Democrats' primary-challenge model produced AOC, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, and a wave of state-legislative wins. The Working Families Party operates the equivalent on the left flank.
Ethics complaints in series
One complaint is dismissible. Ten coordinated complaints trigger formal review.
Coordinated filings to the PA State Ethics Commission citing the documented pattern of industry-PAC donations to legislators who subsequently held bills benefiting the donor. Each constituent files a separate complaint citing the same factual record. Confidentiality protects each filer; the volume forces formal review.
File against Sen. Pittman citing the documented $5,000 from CNX Resources PAC + $3,000 from PA Coal PAC (2019), his personal endorsement of TECfusions (January 2025), his personal testimony for the Homer City air permit (September 2025), and his hold on HB 1834 / 2150 / 2151 / 2246. Each filer cites the same record; ten filings on the same pattern make dismissal politically expensive.
File the complaint below with the PA State Ethics Commission. Filings are confidential to the filer. One complaint is dismissible. Ten complaints citing the same factual record force formal review.
To the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission: I file this complaint under the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act (65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq.) regarding the conduct of State Senator Joe Pittman (R-41), Senate Majority Leader. The factual record: 1. Documented contributions. The Friends of Joe Pittman PAC received $5,000 from CNX Resources Corporation PAC and $3,000 from the Pennsylvania Coal PAC during the Senator's 2019 special-election campaign, per PA Department of State campaign-finance filings. 2. Documented official actions favorable to the donors. The Senator personally endorsed the TECfusions Upper Burrell data-center campus at its January 14, 2025 launch (project draws Marcellus gas from operators including CNX). The Senator personally testified in support of PADEP Plan Approval 32-00457A for the Homer City Energy Campus at the September 2025 DEP air-quality hearing (campus is supplied by EQT Corporation under a July 2025 agreement). The Senator is currently holding House Bills HB 1834, 2150, 2151, and 2246 — all of which would impose regulation on the gas-AI data-center buildout that benefits CNX, EQT, and their financing partners. 3. The pattern. Donations from regulated industries followed by official actions benefiting those industries, combined with the holding of regulatory legislation that would constrain the donor's business, constitutes the pattern the Ethics Act exists to address. The aggregation of these facts in a single legislator's record warrants Commission review under § 1108. Please confirm receipt of this complaint and the docket number. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [your phone] [your email]
Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission has issued material fines and settlements against state legislators when patterns surface. The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has upheld the Commission's investigative authority repeatedly.
Every published office. Every scheduled public event.
Office addresses are public business addresses on official government bio pages. Phone numbers are the official Harrisburg, Washington, and district lines published on government websites — not personal numbers. The appearance windows are from official government calendars, official campaign-event pages, and chamber-of-commerce listings.
No home addresses. No personal phones. Bird-dogging works at events the official chose to attend — at homes it backfires, loses the news cycle, and triggers state harassment statutes that protect the official from accountability rather than the constituent from compromise.
Ranked by accessibility × on-camera value × topic relevance.
Each window is a public, scheduled event at a public venue. Bring a neighbor. Bring your address. If the official takes questions, take one. If they don't, photograph the room and document who showed up. No home addresses; no personal phones; the question lands on camera at events the official chose to attend.
- 01IN-DISTRICTWomen's Legislative Tea — Rep. Jill Cooper hosts (TECfusions endorser, district representative)The Lamplighter, 6566 Route 22, Delmont
Small-room legislative event in district. Low security. RSVP-confirmed attendance. On-camera questions about TECfusions Upper Burrell land naturally.
- 02REGIONAL DELEGATIONWestmoreland Chamber State of the State Legislative BreakfastGreensburg
Region's full legislative delegation in one room. Press-friendly format. Pittman, Ward, and Cooper all likely attendees.
- 03COMMITTEE HEARINGPA Senate committee hearings — ERE, Consumer Protection, CERD, Local GovernmentMain Capitol committee rooms, Harrisburg
Bartolotta, Vogel, Muth (ERE); Stefano (Consumer Protection chair); Brown (CERD chair) all reachable in committee rooms. Public testifier slots routinely available.
- 04IN-DISTRICTSen. Rothman Carlisle satellite office hoursCumberland County Courthouse, 2nd Floor, Carlisle
Published, predictable, public-building venue. Most actionable scheduled appearance in the next 90 days. SB 939 prime sponsor.
- 05IN-DISTRICTSen. Rothman Elizabethville satellite office hours295 State Drive, Elizabethville
Published, predictable.
- 06IN-DISTRICTSen. Bartolotta Charleroi office walk-in (SB 991 prime sponsor)303 Chamber Plaza, Suite B, Charleroi
Published walk-in hours. SB 991 prime sponsor.
- 07IN-DISTRICTRep. Cooper Murrysville satellite (TECfusions in district)3091 Carson Avenue, Murrysville
Jurisdictionally on-point for Upper Burrell / Bell Township.
- 08MEDIA-FRIENDLY'Fridays With(out) Fetterman' — Pittsburgh office sidewalk presence1000 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh
Established weekly press window with sympathetic constituents already on site. Low friction to add a data-center-specific message.
- 09IN-DISTRICTRep. Reschenthaler Greensburg district office700 Pellis Road, Suite 1, Greensburg
Bell Township is in his district. Ask about FY26 earmark requests touching grid/water infrastructure for data-center sites.
- 10IN-DISTRICTRep. Cooper Community Health, Wellness & Career FairThe Lamplighter, Delmont
Public, press-friendly. Cooper greets attendees.
- 11IN-DISTRICTRep. Cooper Scam Jam (RSVP by Aug 13)New Kensington Senior Center, 1039 Third Ave
Senior-audience event; receptive to data-center cost-of-living framing.
- 12ANNUAL EVENTSHALE INSIGHT 2026 — Marcellus Shale Coalition annual conferenceBayfront Convention Center, Erie
Bartolotta and the western-PA Republican delegation routinely attend. Press-credentialed.
- 13MEDIA-FRIENDLYGov. Shapiro public events calendarpa.gov/governor/events-calendar
Most actively maintained schedule in this report. Ribbon-cuttings at industrial-incentive recipients are the highest-yield clip surface.
- 14MEDIA-FRIENDLYSen. McCormick telephone town hallTelephone — RSVP queues a question
Questions queue formally on the call; on the record.
- 15IN-DISTRICTRep. Thompson WPSU Town Hall + rotating constituent office hoursPA-15 rotating venues / WPSU studio
Public-broadcast town halls accept advance question submissions. Constituent office hours rotate through Indiana County.
Every published office. Every public contact channel.
Office addresses are public business addresses on official government bio pages. Phone numbers are the official Harrisburg, Washington, or district office lines — not personal numbers.
Sen. Joe Pittman
REPUBLICANHolds the Senate calendar. Personally endorsed TECfusions at its January 2025 launch and testified for the Homer City air permit at the September 2025 DEP hearing. $5K from CNX PAC + $3K from PA Coal PAC documented. Currently holding HB 1834 / 2150 / 2151 / 2246 in the Senate.
Ex-officio Appropriations · Chair, Rules & Executive Nominations · controls Senate calendar as Majority Leader
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks (2026) — PA Senate session in HarrisburgMain Capitol Rotunda, HarrisburgMajority Leader has constant floor presence; Senate Republican press room scrums are routine; Senate gallery is open to the public.
- Thu May 28, 8:30–10:30 AM — Westmoreland Chamber State of the State Legislative BreakfastGreensburgRegion-wide legislative delegation breakfast; press-friendly format.
Sen. Patrick Stefano
REPUBLICANCo-sponsor of SB 991 (DEP-preselected data-center sites; bypass municipal review). Convened the May 12, 2025 grid-strain hearing that became the policy launchpad for SB 991 four months later. CVP scorecard: 0% (2019–2020), 11% lifetime.
Chair, Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure (directly relevant to utility-ratepayer / data-center cost questions)
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks — Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure committee meetingsMain Capitol committee rooms, HarrisburgHe presides. Press attend. Public testifier slots routinely available.
Sen. Kim Ward
REPUBLICANPresides over the PA Senate as President Pro Tempore. The Armstrong / Kiski Valley corridor is NOT in her district, but she represents southern Westmoreland (Greensburg). Listed for regional accessibility.
Ex-officio member of all Standing Committees as President Pro Tempore
- Thu May 28, 8:30–10:30 AM — Westmoreland Chamber State of the State Legislative BreakfastGreensburgHer core delegation event. Highest-yield Westmoreland-specific window.
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks — Presides over PA Senate floor sessionsMain Capitol, Harrisburg
Sen. Camera Bartolotta
REPUBLICANPrime sponsor of SB 991 — the data-center fast-permitting bill that bypasses municipal review. Explicit lobbying target for the Data Center Coalition.
Environmental Resources & Energy (Member — directly relevant); Vice Chair Labor & Industry
- Any Monday or Wednesday, 9–5 — Charleroi office walk-in (Mon Valley)303 Chamber Plaza, Suite B, CharleroiPublished walk-in hours; lowest-friction in-person ask. SB 991 prime sponsor.
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks — Environmental Resources & Energy committee meetingsMain Capitol committee rooms, Harrisburg
- September 22–24, 2026 — SHALE INSIGHT 2026 (Marcellus Shale Coalition annual conference)Bayfront Convention Center, ErieBartolotta routinely attends; press-credentialed event.
Sen. Elder Vogel
REPUBLICANCo-sponsor of SB 991. Chair of Ag & Rural Affairs — leverage point on rural land-use and rural-water concerns tied to data-center buildout.
Chair, Agriculture & Rural Affairs · Vice Chair, Appropriations · Member, Environmental Resources & Energy
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks — Agriculture & Rural Affairs committee meeting (he chairs)Main Capitol committee rooms, HarrisburgPress attend. Rural-water and farmland-conversion questions are jurisdictionally on-point.
- Daily M–F 8:30–4:30 — Cranberry Township and Rochester district officesRowan Road, Cranberry; Adams St, RochesterMost accessible in-person windows.
Sen. Greg Rothman
REPUBLICANPrime sponsor of SB 939 — the data-center 'regulatory sandbox' bill (subsequently amended after PSATS pressure).
Chair, Game & Fisheries · Member, Agriculture & Rural Affairs
- Thu June 18, July 16, Aug 20, 10 AM — Carlisle satellite (Third Thursday office hours)Cumberland County Courthouse, 2nd Floor, CarlislePublished, predictable, public-building venue. Most actionable scheduled appearance in the next 90 days.
- Tue June 9, July 14, Aug 11, 10 AM–noon — Elizabethville satellite (Second Tuesday office hours)295 State Drive, Elizabethville
Sen. Katie Muth
DEMOCRATSponsor of the proposed three-year hyperscale data-center moratorium and SB 1114 (PA Ratepayer Protection Act). Bird-dogging here is collaborative, not adversarial — useful for amplification.
Member, Environmental Resources & Energy
- Daily M–F 9–5 — Royersford district office walk-in338 Main Street, Royersford
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks — Environmental Resources & Energy committee meetingsMain Capitol committee rooms, Harrisburg
Sen. Rosemary Brown
REPUBLICANRepublican co-sponsor of Muth's three-year moratorium bill. Has publicly questioned Fast Track transparency. Bipartisan-pressure-amplification target.
Chair, Community/Economic/Recreational Development · Vice Chair, Local Government
- June 1–10, 22–30 voting blocks — Community/Economic/Recreational Development committee hearings (she chairs)Main Capitol committee rooms, HarrisburgShe gavels. Press attend. Data-center economic-development questions land on her committee.
Rep. Jill Cooper
REPUBLICANPublicly endorsed TECfusions Upper Burrell at the January 2025 launch — TECfusions is in her district.
Education · Labor & Industry · Local Government · Tourism, Recreation & Economic Development (R-Chair, Arts & Entertainment Subcommittee) · Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness
- Wed May 13, 2–4 PM — Women's Legislative Tea (RSVP by May 8 to 724-387-9113)The Lamplighter, 6566 Route 22, DelmontSmall-room legislative event in district; low security; on-camera questions land naturally. Highest-yield in next 14 days.
- First Monday and Third Thursday monthly — Murrysville satellite office (in-district walk-in)3091 Carson Avenue, MurrysvilleTECfusions / Upper Burrell questions are jurisdictionally on-point.
- Fri July 24, 9 AM–1 PM — Community Health, Wellness & Career FairThe Lamplighter, DelmontPublic/press-friendly. Cooper greets attendees.
- Tue Aug 18, 10 AM–noon — Scam Jam (RSVP by Aug 13)New Kensington Senior Center, 1039 Third Ave
- Thu Sep 17, 9 AM–noon — Senior Expo (co-host: Rep. Abby Major)Lower Burrell VFW 92
Gov. Josh Shapiro
DEMOCRATArchitect of EO 2024-04 / Permit Fast Track / GRID standards. Per Heatmap News (April 29, 2026), gave Amazon NDA-bound early access to Fast Track in April 2025 — months before public availability.
- Refresh daily — Governor's public events calendar (most actively maintained schedule in this report)pa.gov/governor/events-calendarPress conferences at ribbon-cuttings are the on-camera shot. Industrial-incentive announcements at any large-parcel site are data-center-adjacent.
Sen. Dave McCormick
REPUBLICANMet with HCR CEO Corey Hessen May 7, 2026; characterized environmental laws as 'hijacked by environmental activists.' Running Homer City as the federal-policy showcase for permit reform with 1-year hard deadlines + restricted judicial review.
- Monthly (recurring) — Telephone town hall — monitor @SenMcCormickPA for date and RSVP linkTelephone — queue a question on the call
- Walk-in / scheduled — Pittsburgh office in-person meeting on PJM cost-allocation310 Grant Street, Suite 2415, PittsburghClosest McCormick office to Bell / Indiana / Armstrong / Westmoreland for in-person constituent visits.
Sen. John Fetterman
DEMOCRATHas used the AI-infrastructure 'national security' frame to back data-center buildout. Has not held an in-person town hall since taking office (sustained press scrutiny on this).
- Fridays 12–1 PM (recurring) — 'Fridays With(out) Fetterman' — weekly constituent sidewalk presenceOutside Pittsburgh office, 1000 Liberty AvenueEstablished weekly press window with sympathetic constituents already on site.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler
REPUBLICANBell Township's U.S. Representative. House Appropriations subcommittees: Energy & Water Development; Interior, Environment & Related Agencies — directly relevant to data-center/power-infrastructure oversight. $122.1M in FY26 earmarks.
- Walk-in / scheduled meeting — Greensburg district office constituent meeting (closest office to Bell Township)700 Pellis Road, Suite 1, GreensburgDirectly in jurisdiction. Ask about FY26 earmark requests touching grid/water infrastructure for data-center sites.
- Ongoing — House Appropriations Energy & Water subcommittee hearingsHouse Cannon/Rayburn complex, Washington DCPublic hearings, press-friendly. Reschenthaler is a subcommittee member.
Rep. Glenn 'GT' Thompson
REPUBLICANRepresents Indiana County, where the 4.5 GW Homer City Energy Campus is sited. Chair of House Agriculture Committee — rural development and rural-utility jurisdiction.
- Rotating (monitor press-release feed) — Staff constituent office hours through Indiana County / Clearfield / JeffersonRotating PA-15 venuesMost accessible in-district windows. Pull current schedule from thompson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/
- TBD next 60–90 days — WPSU Town Hall (public broadcast — questions submittable in advance)WPSU studio / virtualPress-credentialed; on the record.
Public portals. Interactive search. Build the lobbying ledger.
The PA Lobbying Services and Campaign Finance portals require name-based searches that have to be run interactively. Below are the queries to run, and the URLs that house the answer.
- PA Department of State Lobbying Disclosure Portal
Query each principal: 'Data Center Coalition,' 'Marcellus Shale Coalition,' 'CNX Resources,' 'EQT Corporation,' 'Constellation Energy,' 'PJM Interconnection,' 'Duquesne Light,' 'FirstEnergy,' 'PPL,' 'TECfusions.' Pull Q4 2025 / Q1 2026 / Q2 2026 quarterly expense reports and registration statements. Cross-tab against the officials on this calendar.
https://www.palobbyingservices.pa.gov/public/wfsearch.aspx ↗ - PA Campaign Finance Reporting
Pull each official's candidate committee 2025 annual and 2026 cycle reports. Filter by contributor name for industry PACs ('CNX PAC,' 'EQT Corporation PAC,' etc.). Disclosed fundraiser events (date, host, location) appear in the in-kind / event fields.
https://www.campaignfinanceonline.pa.gov/Pages/CFReportSearch.aspx ↗ - PA Senate session calendar
Refresh weekly during voting blocks. Verify session days before scheduling travel.
https://www.palegis.us/senate/session/calendars ↗ - PA House session calendar
Refresh weekly during voting blocks.
https://www.palegis.us/house/session/calendars ↗ - PA Legislative committee meeting index
ERE, Consumer Protection, CERD, and Local Government committee meetings are the four hearings most likely to generate data-center floor time.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/cms/ ↗
Coalition and heritage
Multiply the messengers. The ancestors did this work.
The Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, VFW, American Legion, parish councils, and historical-preservation societies already exist across western PA — with organizing infrastructure, legitimacy, and a heritage frame no climate group can match. The Whiskey Rebellion is not a metaphor here; it is the local history museum.
Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution
The ancestors did exactly this work. Activate the chapters.
DAR and SAR chapters in western PA have organizing infrastructure, legitimacy, and a heritage frame that no environmental group can match. The argument writes itself: our ancestors fought the British Crown for the right to self-government on this land; we will not now surrender it to foreign sovereign wealth and Manhattan private equity without the consent of the people who live here.
Pittsburgh's General Edward Hand Chapter NSDAR and the Sons of the Revolution PA Society are the closest active chapters. Indiana, Westmoreland, and Armstrong counties each have constituent members. The Whiskey Rebellion is the regional founding myth — every chapter knows it, and most chapter rooms have the broadsides on the wall.
Email the chapter regent of the nearest DAR or SAR chapter with the letter below. Chapters meet monthly; getting on the next agenda is a one-email ask. The Whiskey Rebellion is the regional founding story — every western-PA chapter knows it.
Dear [Regent / President name], I am a chapter member / descendant / corridor resident writing about a heritage-preservation issue I would like to bring to the chapter's attention at the next meeting. The Armstrong / Indiana / Westmoreland corridor — the same Whiskey Rebellion ground our ancestors organized on in 1791-1794 — is being marketed by Manhattan private equity (Knighthead Capital), Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth (MGX via BlackRock's AI Infrastructure Partnership), and Pittsburgh gas operators (CNX, EQT) for hyperscale data-center buildout. The 4.5 GW Homer City Energy Campus, the 3 GW TECfusions Upper Burrell campus, the 1,500-acre Zediker Station, and multiple other proposals would re-industrialize the corridor on a scale that erases the historical agricultural and forested landscape. I am asking the chapter to consider a heritage-preservation resolution opposing this re-industrialization, modeled on the chapter's existing land-use-intervention work. The argument writes itself: our ancestors fought the British Crown for the right to self-government on this land; we cannot now surrender it to foreign sovereign wealth and out-of-state private equity without the consent of the people who live here. Specific asks: 1. A chapter resolution for the historical record. 2. Permission to invite a corridor resident to present at the next meeting (15 minutes; documented sources only). 3. Coordination with sister chapters (General Edward Hand, Sons of the Revolution PA Society) on a joint statement. Respectfully, [your name] [your address] [chapter affiliation / DAR or SAR member number if applicable]
DAR and SAR chapters have intervened on heritage-preservation and land-use issues across the country for over a century. The legitimacy carries weight elected officials cannot easily dismiss.
VFW and American Legion posts
Veterans organize. Posts are everywhere. The frame is already shared.
Every county in western PA has VFW and American Legion posts with established organizing infrastructure, weekly meetings, and a constituency whose military service is regularly invoked by the same officials now selling them out to foreign sovereign capital. The cognitive dissonance is the lever.
Specifically: post engagement in Apollo, Vandergrift, Leechburg, Saltsburg, Indiana borough, Homer City, Greensburg, New Kensington. The framing: 'I served so my grandchildren could decide what happens on our own land. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth was not the customer I had in mind.'
Email the commander or adjutant of your local VFW or American Legion post with the letter below. Posts meet monthly; the standing pattern is to invite a community speaker for 10 minutes after the formal agenda. Almost every western-PA post has at least one member who already lives next to one of the proposed sites.
Dear [Commander / Adjutant name], I am a [veteran / family member / community resident] writing to request a brief place on the next post agenda. The hyperscale data-center buildout being routed through the Armstrong / Indiana / Westmoreland corridor is structurally funded by foreign sovereign wealth. MGX, the Abu Dhabi AI investment vehicle chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (concurrently the UAE National Security Adviser), holds equity in the BlackRock-Microsoft AI Infrastructure Partnership that acquired Aligned Data Centers for $40B in October 2025. The same partnership and its named co-investors are positioned to take equity in PA-corridor data-center campuses. I am asking the post to consider a resolution on the following: 1. Foreign-sovereign-capital review. The post calls on Senator McCormick and Senator Fetterman to request a CFIUS review of foreign-sovereign equity in PA-sited critical-grid infrastructure. 2. Domestic compute capacity. The post supports federal procurement preferences for non-foreign-sovereign-funded data-center capacity for DoD workloads. 3. Veteran-community-impact disclosure. The post requests that any data-center campus receiving PA Permit Fast Track designation provide a documented veteran-community-impact statement. I served / my family served so that our grandchildren could decide what happens on our own land. The post is the right institution to put that frame on the public record. Respectfully, [your name] [your service branch / dates / rank if comfortable sharing] [your address]
Veterans Against the Pipeline groups intervened powerfully at Standing Rock and on subsequent pipeline fights. Veterans for Peace and About Face have moved policy in Washington on issues from drone warfare to defense contracting.
Faith communities
The moral frame. The weekly meeting. The bulletin board.
Catholic parishes (Diocese of Greensburg, Diocese of Pittsburgh), mainline Protestant congregations, evangelical churches, and the regional Quaker meetings have moral standing, weekly assembly, and bulletin-board reach across the corridor. Pope Francis's Laudato Si' and the Catholic social-teaching tradition speak directly to this issue.
Approach pastors at parishes in the corridor with the documented receipts and a request for a homily mention, a bulletin insert, or a hosted parish forum. The framing — stewardship of creation, the dignity of rural communities, the rejection of usury-by-distance — translates across denominations.
Email your pastor, priest, or congregational lay leader with the letter below. The ask is a bulletin insert, a homily mention, or a hosted parish forum — three low-friction options. Translates across denominations; adapt the scripture citation to your tradition.
Dear [Pastor / Reverend / Father / Rabbi name], I am a member of [parish / congregation name] writing about a community issue with significant moral weight that I am asking you to consider addressing. The Armstrong / Indiana / Westmoreland corridor is the target of hyperscale gas-fired data-center construction at industrial scale. The 4.5 GW Homer City Energy Campus alone is projected to produce ~17 million tons of CO₂ per year (Yale Environment 360, Dec 2025); the TECfusions Upper Burrell campus targets 3 GW; multiple other projects are in the pipeline. PA already ranks 2nd nationally for premature deaths from stationary-fuel PM2.5 (Buonocore et al., Environmental Research Letters, 2021). Documented well-water contamination in Freeport Township (2022 EQT frac-out, methane / arsenic / barium) has displaced a neighbor and put a "water buffalo" tank on her property. Three low-friction ways the congregation could speak: 1. A bulletin insert (one paragraph) noting the corridor situation and pointing to the documented record. 2. A homily mention drawing on the stewardship-of-creation tradition (Laudato Si' in Catholic context; equivalent in other traditions). Pope Francis's encyclical addresses exactly this dynamic — distant capital extracting from communities that did not consent. 3. A hosted parish / congregational forum (60 minutes) where a corridor resident presents documented receipts and the congregation discusses the moral frame. I can provide source materials in advance. The corridor has carried decades of cumulative impact from gas extraction. A 24/7 industrial computing facility powered by on-site gas turbines is not a marginal use; it is a multiplier on every existing burden on our air, water, and household electricity bills. The congregation's moral voice on this matters — it travels in ways policy arguments cannot. Respectfully, [your name] [your parish / congregational role] [your address]
Faith-based organizing was central to the U.S. civil rights movement, the anti-apartheid divestment campaign, and the Standing Rock coalition. Catholic Climate Covenant and Interfaith Power & Light operate national networks.
Heritage and history-preservation coalitions
These campuses are erasing the cultural landscape. Allies already exist whose mission is preventing exactly that.
Historical-preservation societies, heritage-tourism networks, and watershed-cultural-landscape coalitions are natural allies whose existing organizational missions oppose industrial-scale erasure of historic agricultural and forested landscapes.
Pittsburgh's Rivers of Steel NHA (Whiskey Rebellion historic-site network), the Allegheny River Heritage Area, the Westmoreland County Historical Society, the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. The Whiskey Rebellion historic-site network includes the very ground in this corridor.
Email the director of the nearest heritage organization or historical society with the letter below. Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Westmoreland County Historical Society, and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds all hold periodic public programs — getting the corridor onto a future program agenda is the first concrete ask.
Dear [Director name], I am writing about a heritage-preservation issue your organization may not yet be tracking. The Armstrong / Indiana / Westmoreland corridor — the documented ground of the 1791–1794 Whiskey Rebellion, the Mingo Creek Association, the march on Pittsburgh — is being marketed for hyperscale gas-fired data-center construction at a scale that would permanently alter the cultural landscape your organization exists to protect. The 4.5 GW Homer City Energy Campus is under construction. The 3 GW TECfusions Upper Burrell campus is permitted. The CNX-marketed Zediker Station targets 500–700 MW on a former Washington County coal mine. Multiple additional projects are in the PA Permit Fast Track pipeline. This is not abstract. The land that the Whiskey Rebellion farmers organized on is the same land being marketed to Manhattan private equity (Knighthead Capital, ~75% owner of Homer City Redevelopment) and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth (MGX, via the BlackRock AI Infrastructure Partnership). The cultural-landscape integrity of the corridor — the historical agricultural and forested character that Rivers of Steel, the Allegheny River Heritage Area, and the regional historical societies have spent decades documenting and preserving — is the specific thing the buildout erases. I am asking your organization to consider: 1. A formal position statement on the corridor's cultural-landscape integrity, modeled on the position statements Preservation Pennsylvania has issued on prior industrial threats. 2. Inclusion of the corridor on your organization's next program agenda as a heritage-at-risk topic. 3. Coordination with the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds and the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy on a joint statement. The Whiskey Rebellion is the regional founding story your organization tells. The corridor is where that story happened. We have a documented opportunity to apply the lesson of that story now, on the same ground. Respectfully, [your name] [your affiliation / membership] [your address]
Heritage-preservation coalitions stopped the Lower Susquehanna Greenway pipeline expansion and have intervened on multiple PA gas projects citing historical-landscape integrity.
These are not for ChatGPT.
Documented evidence — public contracts, corporate announcements, sovereign-equity disclosures — that there is no architectural separation between consumer AI workloads, federal national-security workloads, and foreign sovereign wealth.
The documented version is more damning than the rhetorical version. Read the receipts. Then ask why the buildout's own announcements say the quiet part out loud and our elected officials do not.
The same hyperscalers selling capacity to PA data centers hold the U.S. Department of Defense's primary cloud contract.
The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) is a $9 billion, ten-year DoD contract split among AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle — awarded December 2022. The same companies are the named hyperscale buyers (or undisclosed candidates) for Homer City, Susquehanna/Cumulus, the QTS Luzerne campus, and the CoreWeave Lancaster project.
There is no architectural firewall inside a hyperscale data center between a commercial AI customer and a DoD AI customer. The same physical racks, the same liquid-cooling systems, the same gas turbines, and the same PA water serve both. When PA gives up parcels for 'AI infrastructure,' DoD workloads ride the same infrastructure by contractual right.
The Stargate consortium publicly states that its purpose is U.S. national-security capability — not commercial AI.
OpenAI's own January 21, 2025 announcement of The Stargate Project frames the $500B buildout as 'a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies' and as 're-industrialization of the United States.' Those are OpenAI's words on its own corporate site.
The companies will not let their own framing become the campaign's strawman, because their own framing is the receipt. Stargate is publicly a national-security project — owned 25% by an Abu Dhabi sovereign vehicle whose chair is also the UAE's National Security Adviser. PA infrastructure built for Stargate is, by the consortium's own description, infrastructure for U.S. national-security workloads with foreign-sovereign co-investment.
The equity capital flowing from MGX into U.S. data-center infrastructure is being directed by the United Arab Emirates' national-security apparatus.
MGX is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is concurrently the UAE National Security Adviser and chair of G42 (the UAE's principal AI company). MGX equity participates in the Stargate consortium (~$7B direct), in the BlackRock / Microsoft / GIP / MGX AI Infrastructure Partnership (which acquired Aligned Data Centers for $40B in October 2025), and in OpenAI, xAI, and Databricks rounds.
Aligned's pipeline spans Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia — PJM markets adjacent to PA. MGX sovereign equity is structurally inside PJM-region data-center infrastructure without ever showing up as a 'foreign investment' on any CFIUS docket. The capital is being directed by a foreign national-security office. Nobody is pretending otherwise. The U.S. press has just not yet treated this as the story it is.
The same hyperscalers host the data-pipelines used for immigration enforcement, predictive policing, and facial-recognition surveillance.
Palantir's ICE Investigative Case Management (ICM) system has been hosted on AWS GovCloud. Microsoft has supplied facial-recognition services to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Amazon Rekognition was marketed to local police departments for real-time face-matching. Project Maven (initially Google, later Palantir) is a DoD AI program for analyzing drone-surveillance footage. These are public contracts and public reporting, not allegations.
The 'AI' in AI data center is not exclusively, or even primarily, about chatbots. The same compute infrastructure runs facial-recognition pipelines, predictive-policing scoring systems, immigration-enforcement databases, and drone-targeting analysis. There is no architectural separation between those workloads and a college student's ChatGPT query. PA hosting the infrastructure means PA hosting all of it.
Hyperscale data centers have no internal architectural separation between consumer AI, commercial enterprise, federal national-security, and foreign-sovereign-equity-funded workloads.
Hyperscale facilities are organized into multi-tenant zones (FedRAMP-High for federal national-security workloads, IL5/IL6 for DoD, commercial for everyone else) — but those zones share the same physical building, the same cooling water, the same gas turbines, the same PJM grid interconnection, and in many cases the same hardware racks under software-defined partitioning. Operators routinely re-allocate capacity across tenant zones based on demand.
When a PA township gives up parcels for 'an AI data center,' it is giving up parcels for whatever the operator decides to run on them — including DoD AI workloads, intelligence-community analytics, ICE / DHS pipelines, foreign-sovereign-funded research, and any other workload the customer chooses. The community has no contractual standing to restrict the use after the parcel is sold.
Behind-the-meter and front-of-meter relabeling lets hyperscalers run dedicated-customer infrastructure outside the regulatory regime that protects retail ratepayers.
FERC rejected the Talen/AWS amended ISA for Susquehanna in November 2024 (2-1, Christie/See) on cost-shift grounds. Talen and AWS restructured the same arrangement as a 1.92 GW 'front-of-the-meter' PPA through 2042 in June 2025 — a relabeling that takes the $18 billion contract outside FERC's behind-the-meter cost-causation review entirely. Under new FERC chair Laura Swett, the December 2025 unanimous order directed PJM to create new transmission-service categories specifically enabling co-location.
The federal cost-protection regime that was supposed to prevent dedicated-customer deals from being subsidized by retail ratepayers has been routed around at the contracting level and then reopened at the rulemaking level. PA households are paying record-high PJM capacity prices for infrastructure whose ultimate beneficiaries can include federal national-security agencies and foreign sovereign wealth — and the federal regulator that should have stopped this is now actively enabling it.