Washington County chamber hosts discussion with data center developer
Conversation focuses on proposed Starpointe project
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce hosted an exclusive breakfast briefing event with an international data center developer on Thursday morning.
Chamber President Jeff Kotula said the event, which was held at Range Resource’s Southpointe headquarters, was intended to give members an opportunity to hear from representatives of Prime Data Centers LLC in an informal, conversational setting.
The Dallas, Texas-based developer has applied to build a 350-megawatt data center campus and attached natural gas power plant in Starpointe Business Park near Burgettstown.
Kotula hosted a discussion with Prime Senior Vice President of Development/Project Lead Kate Nolan Bryden before opening the floor to questions from over 100 local business and municipal leaders that attended the briefing.
Bryden said the company selected Starpointe for the project because of its pad-ready sites, mature labor market and easy access to the adjacent Rover Pipeline, which will supply natural gas for the data center’s power plant via an approximately 800 foot lateral connection.
The company has had to build up to 50-mile extensions to connect its other data center facilities to the nearest pipeline, which represented a substantial added cost and regulatory burden, she said.
“We want to make sure development happens where it can serve business and the local community,” she said.
Local business owner Alex Paris said data center development presents a “very, very unique opportunity” for Washington County, but that this opportunity comes with some inherent challenges, such as combating negative perceptions of the industry.
Paris’ company ALTIAN Development LLC purchased Starpointe in 2024, and is currently under a purchase/sale agreement with Prime for the land that will hold the proposed data center campus.
“Almost everything you hear about data centers is wrong,” he said. “The public has been fed so much misinformation it’s crazy, and we need data centers.”
Paris cited an educational trip he took with Prime staff to visit one of the company’s operational data center facilities in Elk Grove Village near Chicago earlier this year, saying that data center development represents an existential imperative for the country, and a local economic development opportunity.
According to Bryden, Prime is committed to being a long-term partner in every community they operate in, including offering perks beyond the legally required community benefits agreements that are mandatory under Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) standards.
She said the company will discuss the community benefit agreement and any other potential perks after land use zoning is approved in order to avoid the appearance of a “quid pro quo” with local officials.
Bryden also touted the sound attenuating design features of the proposed data center facility, saying that “you could stand at the entrance to Starpointe Business Park … and you won’t be able to hear what’s going on with our data centers.”
She said Prime is “100% we will meet or exceed the standards in the (Hanover Township) ordinance.”
Bryden also said that once fully built, she anticipates that the campus will have minimal impact on local wildlife.
“I don’t think evidence exists to support this massive exodus of wildlife (from the area around the data center campus),” she said.
The Hanover Township Board of Supervisors will continue its review of the conditional use application on Nov. 18, plus Dec. 9, all at 6 p.m., at the Hanover Volunteer Fire Department at 9 Starck Drive, in Burgettstown.