FNN Article © Thursday, December 11, 2025. Image provided and © by Lonny Frost.
WELLSBORO, PA — Residents of Tioga County flocked to the Wellsboro Courthouse to voice their serious questions and concerns at the Tioga County Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday evening over the supposed data center planned for the county. The county commissioners had adopted a Data Center Ordinance on Tuesday morning, December 9th. The ordinance adopted is supposed to be a safeguard and provide some protection to the county in case a company is looking to build a data center in the county. Of course, the three Tioga County Commissioners quickly assured residents that they will take the public’s concerns into account to make any needed amendments. It is believed by the Tioga County Planning Commission that the county has certainly developed a strong ordinance.
It was stated that the Planning Commission had been approached by a “landman” some time ago, about building an AI Data Center near the Tioga-Lawrenceville line which is allegedly on the table. The commissioners requested the Planning Commission to start working on creating a Data Center Ordinance to get in front of this issue as they were aware of the concerns from residents who do not want such a center in Tioga County.
Many in attendance at the Wednesday evening meeting clearly stated they did not want any data center built in their county listing a number of reasons, including costs pushed onto residents.
According to Tioga County Commissioner Shane Nickerson, all three commissioners were terrified when they heard about a proposed data center coming into Tioga County, PA. The commissioners stated that they started looking into information on such centers. They read about nightmare stories and they immediately felt they had to do something like today. However, in the same breath, Nickerson then claimed as they learned more, he was more calm about it. He noted that the commissioners do have some parameters that they can set, and that they appreciate the community helping them in this process.
The Tioga County (PA) Commissioners wants to ensure that if any company wants to build a data center, the ordinance could make the company think about not building one here or if they do then they will have to adhere to strict county rules and regulations. With that said, some residents still believe the ordinance will not prevent a data center from being built in their beautiful county.
When it came to writing the ordinance the Tioga County Planning Commission focused on five specific areas which included the following – *Lighting, *Sound & Noise, *Energy Consumption, *Water Consumption, as well as *Landscape Appearance. The ordinance even addresses the decommissioning of a facility (if one is ever built in the county) at some future time. Remember the newly adopted ordinance can always be revised if additional protections are needed.
It was learned during Wednesday night’s meeting that Next Generation Land Development Company was the entity that had approached the Planning Commission not so long ago and a spokesman of that company did not shed any light on who the potential developer or tenant would be. In fact not a lot of details are known at this time. However, he did state he was a “landman” and he believes in the projects he gets involved with. He also stated that he does not want to look back twenty years from now and be ashamed.
Now let’s discuss money made if a data center was to be built in Tioga County, PA. According to Chief assessor Josh Zeyn, he estimated that a data center would impact the county tax base and its tax revenue. Presently the county’s tax base is $3.9 billion, which generates around $16 million in tax revenue for the county. One data center site would have the potential to increase the tax base of the county by $1-2 billion and the tax revenue by $8 million for the county and $15-20 million for a school district.
Many residents told FNN that they are still skeptical of the adopted ordinance and of the commissioners’ statements. Several have even openly claimed they really do not trust local officials very much anymore, especially when it comes to the proposed possibility of an AI Data Center being built in the county.
The crowd was reminded that the public has 30 days to submit any questions or suggestions of what to add to the ordinance. The Data Center Ordinance will be finalized in March 2026.
Another public comment session will take place at the next Planning Commission meeting, which is presently set for Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at the Toshiba building at 6:30 PM.
Please note that the information from both Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s meetings will be available on Tioga County’s website. Also residents can view the current Data Center Ordinance here.
