A nationwide fight over AI data centers is intensifying in Pennsylvania, where an activist organization supported by the Heinz family’s left-leaning nonprofit network is working to slow a multibillion-dollar development.
TECfusions, a Florida-based data center company, is facing a 180-day pause on new data center construction in Upper Burrell Township, near Pittsburgh. The local moratorium echoes New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to suspend permits for new large-scale facilities in the state for one year.
Protect PT, the local environmental group pushing the delay, receives support from the Heinz Endowments, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit created in 2007 from two charitable endowments tied to company founder Henry J. Heinz. In 2024, the foundation gave Protect PT $400,000 — about half of the group’s funding that year — while awarding nearly $93 million in grants to left-leaning causes, according to Cause IQ.
Using that funding, Protect PT pressed for the moratorium in May and is now helping organize opposition to the proposed New Kensington, Pa., project. The group is expected to bring lawyers, witnesses and environmental experts to an August hearing as it challenges the development.
“The people that live close to the site have said they don’t want it,” said Gillian Graber, the group’s executive director, pointing to concerns about electricity demand and water use.
TECfusions, which already operates data centers in Arizona and Virginia and announced a $4 billion initial public offering on Wednesday, argued that the money backing opponents will not outweigh the broader momentum behind AI infrastructure.
“Every printing press had its protesters. Every data center will too. And history remembers neither,” Simon Tusha, TECfusions’ founder and chief technology officer, told The Post.
“Data centers aren’t intruders on the Monopoly board. They’re the new utilities, deserving their own square between the railroad and the water company.”
Resistance against AI data centers on environmental grounds is baseless, he added, noting the company is repurposing and expanding an already existing factory that housed data centers.
The New Kensington project will also be powered entirely on-site by natural gas, compliant with President Trump’s new data center energy directive.
“We’re not taking power from the community. We’re not taking power from the grid. We’re doing onsite power generation and we could actually export power back into the grid during emergency scenarios,” said Tusha.
Pennsylvania produces the second most energy of any state in the nation, behind Texas, ranking second in natural gas production with 7.5 trillion cubic feet annually and third in coal production with 40.6 million short tons.
In contrast, all of Pennsylvania’s data centers account for just approximately 2.5% of statewide energy use, according to ElectricChoice.com.
Keystone State leaders want to keep pushing innovation forward.
“AI is remaking our world and America must maintain the lead,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) told The Post.
“If not, China wins and we live under their rules. The CCP is thrilled with data center moratoriums and I strongly reject those kinds of policies,” said Fetterman.
“Data centers represent a very small fraction (roughly .03% to 0.4%) of total daily water withdrawals. I’ve maintained that we must protect rate payers from spikes and data centers must cover their portion.”
“However, we can’t allow misinformation stunting our nation’s ability to lead on AI,” the senator concluded.
Gov. Josh Shapiro wants the companies to develop data centers responsibly.
“The governor believes Pennsylvania should establish strong, enforceable standards that ensure development happens responsibly and benefits local communities, and that’s why he proposed the GRID Standards to establish clear, commonsense requirements for data center developers seeking Commonwealth support — including bringing their own power, engaging transparently with local communities, supporting workers, and protecting natural resources,” spokesperson Will Simons said.
Gov. Hochul is actively blocking the Empire State’s infrastructure advancement with the one-year moratorium, kowtowing to the socialist wing of the Democratic party, which could spell disaster for New Yorkers.
“All these protestors and moratoriums are doing is guaranteeing that the cost for technology in their area is going to go up,” said Tusha.
“They’re creating scarcity. The states like New York that use massive amounts of data will not have data sovereignty and they will need to start going to other states. Its a very real possibility that New Yorkers are going to be paying $500 to $600 a month for AI and data center access because of the moratorium,” he added.
Pennsylvania currently has a total pipeline of 87 data centers compared to New York’s mere 34 in the works or active, according to data center tracker Cleanview.
“New York is last in economic development because our energy costs are 70% higher than the national average and Kathy Hochul doesn’t work with local governments and business leaders to figure out how to get things done,” said Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
“I will work with local government, business leaders and energy producers to modernize our economy to bring costs down and create good jobs.”
There are currently 155 local moratoriums on data center construction and another 127 locations that have proposed moratoriums across 40 states, according to the US Data Center Moratorium Tracker.
Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia state houses have all introduced bills that would put moratoriums on data center construction for at least one year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Much of the organized resistance to construction of AI data centers has been directly funded by China-Marxist American billionaire Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai with his wife Jodie Evans, the co-founder of Code Pink.
Singham, an avowed Marxist, has committed millions of dollars promoting the Chinese influence agenda attempting to get Americans to advocate against the construction of the vital infrastructure, according to a report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute.
AI giant OpenAI also issued a report fingering Chinese-linked accounts using ChatGPT to influence social media discourse including fueling hysteria about water and energy use of the facilities.
The Heinz Endowments support of Protect PT goes back to 2016, according to the group.
“The Endowments has long been committed to supporting partners that work to improve environmental quality in four areas: air quality; the transition away from an extractive, carbon-polluting economy to a climate-friendly region; healthy environments for children; and water quality and safety,” said Justin Maxson, Chief Program Officer for the Heinz Endowments.
“Our position regarding data center development is one of rigorous accountability rather than blanket support or opposition,” he added.
