What's in motion. What's next. How we got here.
Comment windows live this week. Decisions pending in the next sixty days. The historical record below them.
The PA Senate reconvenes June 1 with five regulatory bills sitting in Sen. Joe Pittman's pocket. Two corridor permits are open for comment through ~June 9. The PJM 2028/29 capacity auction closes July 7 and sets your household electricity bill for the 2028/29 delivery year. The buildout is not waiting for us. We cannot wait either.
Decisions live this week.
Each entry carries a deadline. Comment windows close. PUC tariff frameworks await utility rate-case adoption. Regulatory dockets stay open until they don't. Filing on an open window costs an hour and builds the record. Filing after it closes builds nothing.
File on every channel →- 01OPEN THROUGH ~JUNE 9, 2026
Homer City Chapter 105 wetland-impact permit amendment open for comment
PADEP published Homer City Generation LP's Chapter 105 permit amendment in the May 9 PA Bulletin (pp. 2698–2759, vol. 56, issue 19). The amendment corrects wetland impacts at the 4.5 GW gas-AI campus in Black Lick and Centre Townships, Indiana County. Standard 30-day NPDES comment window — closing approximately June 9, 2026.
DO THISSubmit comments via DEP eComment at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment. Reference PA Bulletin vol. 56 issue 19 page 2724. Cite the PADEP NOV pattern, the accelerated 157-day Plan Approval review, and the Right-to-Know-surfaced 'concierge level of service' language.
- 02OPEN THROUGH ~JUNE 9, 2026
Eastern Gas Transmission Salem Twp (Westmoreland) pipeline open for comment
PADEP published Section 401 Water Quality Certification notice for a 20-inch Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage natural gas pipeline through Salem Township, Westmoreland County. Feedstock infrastructure directly adjacent to the Kiski corridor. Same May 9 PA Bulletin window — closing approximately June 9, 2026.
DO THISSubmit comments via DEP eComment. Cite the cumulative-impact case: this pipeline plus CNX's BP6 waterline plus the Slickville Trunkline appeal plus the Mamont Impoundment plus the Beaver Run withdrawal application all stack on the same Westmoreland watershed.
- 03HEARING HELD MAY 12 · WRITTEN COMMENTS STILL BEING ACCEPTED
Homer City 5.8-mile gas pipeline NPDES PAD320011 — DEP record still open
PADEP held a public hearing May 12, 5–7 p.m. at the Indiana Theater on the NPDES permit for the 5.8-mile pipeline feeding the Homer City Energy Campus. Jay Ting Walker (Clean Air Council, Indiana County field) led testimony; CROW staged a pre-hearing rally. Written comments accepted at ekoehle@pa.gov, subject line 'NPDES Permit Application No. PAD320011,' until DEP closes the record.
DO THISEmail Elspeth Koehle (ekoehle@pa.gov, 814-332-6101). Push Armstrong Defenders members on the Indiana County line to submit.
- 04APPLICATION FILED APRIL 2026
CNX seeks new permit to withdraw fracking water from Beaver Run Reservoir
CNX Midstream applied for PADEP authorization to withdraw water for horizontal drilling and fracking from the Westmoreland Municipal Authority's Beaver Run Reservoir. Plans a short floating intake and a 156-foot pipeline. Follows CNX's documented 2024 violation for withdrawing 1.8 million gallons over 22 days without authorization, and the October 2023 NOV for unauthorized withdrawal of 389,518 gallons at the same reservoir.
DO THISBrief the Westmoreland Municipal Authority on the Ypsilanti, MI water-utility precedent (May 2026: Ypsilanti banned supplying large data centers). The Authority controls Beaver Run; the same water also feeds CNX's BP6 waterline to Armstrong County gas pads.
- 05ADOPTED APRIL 30, 2026 · AWAITING UTILITY RATE-CASE ADOPTION
PA PUC adopts Large Load Tariff Framework
PA PUC voted 5–0 to adopt a model tariff for customers >50 MW individually or >100 MW aggregate. Requirements: collateral and deposits sufficient to cover upgrade costs, six-month interconnection studies, public-facing applications dashboard, exit fees, load-ramping rules. Docket M-2025-3054271. Elizabeth Marx (PA Utility Law Project) warns the framework is 'not binding regulation' — utilities must still incorporate it into tariff filings.
DO THISWhen PPL, Duquesne, FirstEnergy, or West Penn Power files its next base rate case, intervene or submit comments demanding strict adoption of the model tariff with no carve-outs. Watch for the public-facing applications dashboard to launch — it will reveal corridor pipeline.
- 06PUC PREHEARING MAY 6 · APPROVAL TARGET EARLY 2027
NextEra MidAtlantic Resiliency Link — eminent domain for SW PA lines to feed Virginia data centers
107.5-mile 500kV line from Dunkard Twp (Greene Co.) through Greene and Fayette counties to Northern Virginia. NextEra filed for certificate of public convenience at PA PUC. Prehearing conference held May 6, 2026 before ALJ John M. Coogan. NextEra wants approval by early 2027, operational end of 2031. PA landowners forced to host transmission exclusively for out-of-state hyperscalers.
DO THISFile solidarity statements from Westmoreland/Indiana groups with affected Greene/Fayette landowners. This is the cleanest 'PA as colonized energy supply for out-of-state data centers' precedent — sets the frame for any future westward transmission build to feed Homer City or Bell-adjacent projects.
The calendar of the next quarter.
Six scheduled regulatory decisions, one legislative bottleneck, one corporate construction start. The PJM auction results in mid-July are the year's biggest earned-media moment for the ratepayer-cost story. The Muth-Brown-Vogel moratorium bill, when it drops, is the bipartisan vehicle.
Plug into something bigger →- 01JUNE 1, 2026 · 1 P.M.
PA Senate reconvenes — Pittman still holding the regulatory package
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R-41, Indiana) reportedly does not 'think we should be looking at individual bills right now' on data centers. HB 1834 (Matzie, PUC binding rules ≥25 MW), HB 2150 (Mullins, reporting), HB 2151 (Donahue, model ordinance), HB 2246 (Webster, water disclosure), HB 2359 (Ciresi, NDA ban) all sit in the Senate with no committee referral movement reported.
DO THISPittman is the named pressure point through August. The Quinnipiac 68%-oppose poll is the ammunition (53% R opposition). Every Defenders public action through Labor Day should put his name on the record.
- 02JUNE 2026 · EXPECTED BILL INTRODUCTION
Muth-Brown-Vogel three-year hyperscale moratorium · bipartisan
Sen. Katie Muth (D) circulated co-sponsorship memo 48102 for a three-year statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers and supporting power/transmission infrastructure. Republican co-sponsors: Sen. Rosemary Brown (R-Lackawanna/Monroe/Wayne) and Sen. Elder Vogel (R). As of May 18, 2026 the bill had not yet been formally introduced. Expected to drop in June once the Senate reconvenes.
DO THISWhen the bill drops, Armstrong Defenders should be among the first community groups to endorse publicly. Bipartisan co-sponsorship gives Pittman a Republican alternative he cannot dismiss as 'Democratic overreach.'
- 03BIDDING JUNE 30 → CLOSE JULY 7, 2026
PJM 2028/29 Base Residual Auction
FERC approved a price collar of $175/MW-day floor and $325/MW-day cap for the next two auctions (April 28, 2026). Without the collar, the cap would have been ~$550/MW-day. The 2028/29 forecast load is ~5,250 MW higher than 2026/27, with ~5,100 MW attributable to data centers. This auction sets PA capacity prices on household bills for delivery year 2028/29.
DO THISPre-draft op-eds and member alerts for mid-July when results land. This will be the single biggest 'data centers are raising your bill' earned-media moment of the summer.
- 04JUNE OR JULY 2026
FERC decision on Three Mile Island restart (Crane Clean Energy Center)
Constellation submitted three NRC license-amendment applications. NRC resident inspectors arrive summer 2026. DOE $1B Loan Programs Office loan closed November 18, 2025. Section 401 Water Quality Certification out for comment in the May 9 PA Bulletin. Target restart: 2027 early / 2028 commercial. FERC ruling expected June or July per Constellation execs.
DO THISMajor news moment — Microsoft's 20-year 835 MW PPA is the consumer-AI face of the dual-use surveillance-infrastructure issue. Coordinate with TMI Alert and Three Mile Island survivor networks for the news cycle.
- 05Q3 2026 RULING EXPECTED
FERC ruling on PJM co-location compliance (Docket EL25-49-000)
Following Chair Laura Swett's Dec 18, 2025 order requiring three new co-location transmission services, PJM filed compliance Feb 23, 2026. Briefing schedule ran Feb-April. The ruling on the briefed record is the next major shoe to drop on whether Talen/AWS, Homer City's hyperscaler, and any future Bell-adjacent project can structure behind-the-meter deals.
DO THISCoordinate with Maryland OPC and PennFuture on FERC filings. The Defenders can sign on to comment letters as an affected community group on docket EL25-49.
- 06FALL 2026 CONSTRUCTION START
QTS (Blackstone) breaks ground on Salem Township Luzerne campus
1,700 acres, 96 landowners, $500M+ transaction. 12-17 data centers planned. Closed-loop waterless cooling. Adjacent to Talen's Susquehanna nuclear plant. Townshipalready approved + Salem Twp Luzerne is on the PA Permit Fast Track.
DO THISWatch construction for environmental incidents (sediment, dust, water disruption). The closed-loop waterless cooling claim should be independently verified once operational — Aligned and similar 'liquid immersion' systems still consume water indirectly through evaporative cooling towers.
- 07SCHEDULING ORDER PENDING
Environmental Hearing Board scheduling order on Homer City air permit appeal
Clean Air Council, PennFuture, and Sierra Club filed appeal December 2025 of PADEP Plan Approval 32-00457A. Separate Our Children's Trust youth petition (13 plaintiffs, ages 2 months-21) filed December 18, 2025. Alex Bomstein (CAC ED) is lead. EHB has not yet issued a scheduling order; hearing dates likely late 2026 or 2027.
DO THISVolunteer amicus/declarant outreach for corridor residents — pulmonary, asthma, environmental-justice declarations strengthen the appeal record.
- 08EHB DOCKET ACTIVE · HEARING PENDING
Environmental Hearing Board hearing on CNX Slickville pipeline appeal
Three Rivers Waterkeeper and Protect PT filed November 4, 2024 EHB appeal of two PADEP permits for the 13.9-mile CNX Slickville pipeline through Bell, Loyalhanna, and Salem (Westmoreland) Townships. Discovery deadline May 5, 2025. Still on active EHB docket. CNX Midstream cited as having 290 historic violations, 53 open.
DO THISThis is the active EHB litigation directly in the Bell corridor. Watch the docket for hearing dates; Defenders should be prepared to mobilize observers when a hearing is set.
How we got here.
The anchors that explain why the corridor is where it is. Each entry has a source. None of these are surprises in hindsight. They are the public record we are now living inside.
- 01MAY 21, 2026
East Vincent Township unanimously denies Pennhurst 1.9M sq ft data center
East Vincent Township Board of Supervisors voted 3–0 to deny Pennhurst Holdings LLC's conditional use application. Cited zoning non-compliance, environmental concerns, quality of life. Developer plans appeal to Chester County Court of Common Pleas — the appeal is precedent that will reach Bell/Westmoreland zoning fights.
- 02MAY 14, 2026
Better Path Coalition statewide town hall draws 225+ residents
Better Path Coalition (~30 member orgs) and No False Climate Solutions PA hosted the statewide town hall — 225+ attendees, 20+ speakers including Sen. Muth, Rep. Walsh, Sam Burleigh (Concerned Citizens of Montour County), residents from Archbald, East Whiteland, Lower Mount Bethel, Montour. Shapiro's office declined the invitation.
- 03MAY 7, 2026
Maryland Office of People's Counsel files FERC RTEP complaint
Maryland OPC filed FERC complaint challenging PJM transmission cost rules. Says PJM's allocation 'broadly socializes' data-center-driven costs; $1.6B landing on MD ratepayers over next decade (~$345/household). Synapse Energy Economics projects $5.4B additional MD cost burden 2031-2035. Asks FERC to assign data-center costs to PJM zones where data centers actually are.
- 04MAY 5, 2026
East Whiteland data center developer withdraws expansion after public opposition
Developer scrapped revised plans, reverted to previously-approved 1.5M-square-foot version (eliminating the 60%-larger expansion residents fought). East Whiteland AND West Whiteland have both invoked the 180-day PA Municipalities Planning Code zoning-revision pause to write new ordinances. This is the constitutional workaround to the PA Supreme Court moratorium ban.
- 05MAY 1, 2026
Project Gravity (Archbald) terminated from PA Permit Fast Track
Office of Transformation and Opportunity terminated Archbald 25 Developer LLC (Project Gravity, 186 acres / 7 buildings / $5B claimed) for 'lack of responsiveness and unwillingness to provide a transparent overview.' First public Fast Track termination on a data center — proof that organized local opposition + procedural pressure + media works.
- 06APRIL 29, 2026
Heatmap publishes 150+ pages of Shapiro/Amazon Right-to-Know emails
Heatmap News (Jael Holzman) obtained 150+ pages of correspondence — sourced by Colby Wesner — showing Shapiro's office gave Amazon exclusive, NDA-bound early access to PA's Permit Fast Track / SPEED program in April 2025, months before public availability. DCED head Rick Siger told Amazon that PA's new 'stricter controls' were voluntary. Shapiro wrote to AWS CEO Matt Garman: 'My door is always open.'
- 07APRIL 23, 2026
Shapiro DEP consent decree keeps Keystone & Conemaugh coal open through 2032
DEP filed consent decree April 20 to keep Keystone Generating Station (Armstrong & Indiana counties) and Conemaugh Generating Station (Indiana County) open through 2032 — explicitly citing data center demand. Combined ~3,400-3,583 MW. Toxic wastewater rule compliance pushed back. Direct corridor pollution event tied to data-center buildout.
- 08APRIL 23, 2026
Gilpin Township (Armstrong) passes proactive data-center ordinance
Directly across the Kiskiminetas from Armstrong County. 200-ft setbacks from homes/parks/businesses, 100-ft landscaped buffer, vibration may not cross property lines, required water-supply impact demonstrations, required noise studies, grid-capacity verification. The single most actionable corridor template Armstrong County could adapt.
- 09FEBRUARY 10, 2026
Montour County rejects Talen Energy rezoning 3–0
Commissioners Dressler, Finn, Lynn voted 3-0 against rezoning 870 acres of Anthony Township from agricultural to industrial. Concerned Citizens of Montour County delivered 1,842 paper + 1,100 online petition signatures. Talen statement: 'will continue to pursue.' The CCMC playbook (petition + farmland framing + comprehensive plan citation) is highly transferable.
- 10JANUARY 2026
Karen Feridun founds PA Data Center Resistance group
Better Path Coalition founder Karen Feridun launches statewide Facebook group. Grew from a few dozen members to 12,000+ in four months. Functions as statewide membership tip-line and rapid-response broadcast channel.
- 11DECEMBER 18, 2025
FERC under new chair Laura Swett orders PJM to enable co-location
Unanimous FERC order directs PJM to create three new transmission-service categories tailored to data-center co-location — a tonal shift from the November 2024 Christie/See majority toward enabling these deals.
- 12DECEMBER 18, 2025
Clean Air Council, PennFuture, Sierra Club appeal Homer City air permit to EHB
Three groups appealed PADEP Plan Approval 32-00457A. Separate Our Children's Trust youth petition filed same day with 13 plaintiffs ages 2 months-21. A Right-to-Know request surfaced a DEP staffer describing the goal as providing 'concierge level of service' to Homer City Redevelopment.
- 13NOVEMBER 18, 2025
PADEP issues Homer City Plan Approval 32-00457A in 157 days
PADEP issued the air-quality plan approval for the 4.5 GW gas-AI campus 128 days ahead of the originally projected 285-day timeline. The accelerated review is the cleanest exhibit of the Fast Track machine in action.
- 14NOVEMBER 2025
PA $50.1B budget law codifies automatic permit approval
If PADEP fails to act within 30 days (air quality) or 60 days (stormwater/groundwater), the permit is deemed approved by default. Pittman simultaneously secured RGGI repeal as part of the same budget package. Both moves benefit gas-industry bottom lines.
- 15OCTOBER 15, 2025
BlackRock/Microsoft/MGX AI Infrastructure Partnership buys Aligned Data Centers for $40B
Largest private digital-infrastructure deal on record. Aligned's pipeline spans Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia — PJM markets adjacent to PA. MGX (Abu Dhabi sovereign equity, chaired by UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed) now sits structurally inside PJM data-center infrastructure without ever appearing as a 'foreign investment.'
- 16OCTOBER 2025
CNX + JLL list Zediker Station for hyperscale data-center buildout
1,500-acre former coal mine in South Strabane Township, Washington County. 500–700 MW capacity, FirstEnergy grid territory, Marcellus + Utica gas. Carbon-neutral pitch built on CNX's 'remediated mine gas' framework — described by Penn's Danny Cullenward as a 'gimmick.'
- 17SEPTEMBER 2025
Stargate announces five new U.S. sites — Pennsylvania not on the list
OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank expansion: Lordstown OH, Shackelford County TX, Milam County TX, Doña Ana County NM, Saline Township MI. Total Stargate capacity reaches ~7 GW with $400B+ committed over three years. Pennsylvania — named in February 2025 by OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar as one of three states under evaluation — is not included.
- 18JUNE 11, 2025
Talen + AWS restructure Susquehanna deal as 'front-of-meter' to bypass FERC
After FERC's November 2024 rejection of the behind-the-meter ISA, Talen and AWS restructured the same arrangement as a 1,920 MW 'front-of-the-meter' PPA through 2042 — a relabeling that takes the ~$18B contract outside FERC's behind-the-meter cost-causation review entirely.
- 19APRIL 30, 2025
West Virginia signs HB 2014 — first-in-nation local-zoning preemption
Gov. Patrick Morrisey signs the Power Generation and Consumption Act at the future Fidelis Monarch AI campus site. Bars counties and municipalities 'in any way' from regulating certified data centers. Tax-revenue split: 50% state income-tax-cut fund / 30% host county / 10% per capita to other 54 counties. Industry now pressing PA HB 502 / SB 991 / SB 939 along similar lines.
- 20APRIL 2025
Homer City Energy Campus announced — 4.5 GW gas-AI campus, Indiana County
Homer City Redevelopment (Knighthead Capital ~75%, GoldenTree ~12%) and Kiewit announce the 4.5-gigawatt natural-gas-powered data center campus on the 3,200-acre demolished Homer City coal site — the largest gas-powered AI project in the United States. Seven GE Vernova 7HA.02 hydrogen-enabled turbines. EQT signs to supply up to 665,000 MMBTU/day. Hyperscale customer remains undisclosed as of May 2026.
- 21JANUARY 21, 2025
Stargate announced — $500B AI infrastructure consortium
OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and MGX (Abu Dhabi AI investment vehicle chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE National Security Adviser) announce up to $500 billion in U.S. AI infrastructure buildout from the White House. Only ~$52B is hard equity. ~$448B (90%) is to be raised through debt and vendor financing.
- 22NOVEMBER 19, 2024
Shapiro signs Executive Order 2024-04 creating PA Permit Fast Track
Executive order creates Permit Fast Track program and Office of Transformation & Opportunity (OTO). Codified at 4 Pa. Code Subchapter MMM. Five months later, Heatmap News would document that Amazon was granted NDA-bound early access to the program in April 2025, months before it was publicly available.
- 23NOVEMBER 1, 2024
FERC rejects Talen/AWS Susquehanna behind-the-meter ISA 2–1
Commissioners Mark Christie and Lindsay See denied PJM's amended ISA expanding AWS behind-the-meter draw at Susquehanna nuclear from 300 MW to 480 MW (path to 960 MW). Cited cost-shift to ratepayers — up to $140M annually. The Talen-AWS deal would later be restructured as 'front-of-meter' to bypass this entirely.
- 24APRIL 2024
CNX completes the Beaver-Run-to-BP6 'Kiski Water Line' in Armstrong County
5.7-mile, 20-inch HDPE waterline carrying water from the MAWC Beaver Run Reservoir to the BP6 well pad in Armstrong County. Per CNX's own release, Beaver Run is the primary source; a future Kiskiminetas River intake remains contingent on PADEP approval (Chapter 105 E6507223-009, re-noticed April 4, 2026).
- 25OCTOBER 2023
PADEP issues NOV to CNX for unauthorized Beaver Run withdrawal
Notice of Violation: 389,518 gallons of unauthorized withdrawal from the Beaver Run Reservoir (HQ-CWF) over 17 days (May 6-July 6, 2023), under expired Water Management Plan authorization. CNX self-reported July 14, 2023. The cleanest documented PADEP enforcement against CNX in the Armstrong County footprint.
- 262021–2023
CNX records easements across Armstrong County for the BP6 waterline
CNX records easements along the 5.7-mile route between the MAWC Beaver Run Reservoir source and the BP6 well pad complex. Filing dates vary parcel-by-parcel through the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds.
- 271794
Mingo Creek Resolutions; march on Pittsburgh
Local assemblies issue formal resolutions on self-government. Bower Hill is burned. Five thousand armed Pennsylvanians muster at Braddock's Field and march on Pittsburgh. Federal troops are dispatched. The rebellion is suppressed; the principle endures.
- 281791
Federal excise tax imposed on whiskey
Congress passes the federal excise on distilled spirits — the de facto currency of the Western Pennsylvania frontier. Farmers in Westmoreland, Washington, Allegheny, and Fayette counties refuse to pay.