Local Communities Oppose Power Lines Built to Support AI Data Centers

John Zola once saw his 40-acre property in northern Pennsylvania as an ideal place to live. The land includes apple trees, open fields, a barn, and enough space to hold four homes. But Zola says that changed in late 2024 when someone working for the local electric utility showed up at his door with unexpected news. The contractor told him the company planned to run a major power line directly across his land.

The proposal involves building a 500-kilovolt transmission line supported by metal towers about 240 feet tall—roughly ten times taller than Zola’s apple trees. The structures would cut through the orchard and stand near the homes on the property. According to the Associated Press, projects like this are being proposed across the United States as utilities expand the grid to deliver electricity over long distances, often to supply massive data centers operated by major technology companies.

These plans have triggered strong resistance in many communities. Across the country, residents have pushed back against both the construction of huge data centers and the power lines needed to run them. Many people fear the projects could raise electricity costs and permanently alter the character of their communities. Critics of the transmission lines argue they violate private property rights and could harm farmland, public land, waterways, and local property values. They also question why they should accept the impact of infrastructure that mainly supports facilities they believe provide little benefit to their area.

Power grid expansion has long been complicated by regulatory hurdles and lengthy approval processes. At the same time, energy experts warn that the nation’s electrical system is aging and inefficient. With electricity demand increasing rapidly, analysts say the grid could struggle to keep up during extreme heat or cold, raising the risk of widespread outages. Utilities argue that adding new transmission capacity helps stabilize the system overall, even when projects are driven by large energy users such as data centers or industrial operations.

The Pennsylvania utility involved in Zola’s case, PPL, serves more than 1.5 million customers. The company says its 12-mile Sugarloaf transmission project is designed to reduce disruption by expanding an existing power line corridor rather than creating an entirely new route. The corridor previously carried a residential power line that has since been removed.

PPL has offered compensation to landowners in exchange for access to their property. Some residents worry that if they refuse the payments, the company could seek to acquire the land through eminent domain. Zola says the proposed route would pass about 100 feet from where his grandchildren sleep.

In recent days, he said, some property owners who had not accepted earlier offers were presented with much larger payments. Zola says his offer jumped from $17,000 to $85,000. Even so, he insists no payment would make the project acceptable.

“There’s no amount of money for me,” Zola said. “They don’t look at whose lives they are destroying, whose property they are destroying.”

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