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Greene County Embraces Data Center Boom with Innovative Power Plant
29 Aug
Summary
- Greene County sees data center project as "a large step forward"
- Essential Utility leveraging expertise in water and natural gas
- PJM fast-tracking rules for data center interconnections
As of August 29th, 2025, Greene County in Pennsylvania is embracing a new data center project that local officials see as a "large step forward" for the region. The county's chairman, Jared Edgreen, has expressed the need to diversify the local economy, stating that "energy is at a premium."
The project is being proposed by International Electric Power (IEP), which Greene County administrator Jeffrey Marshall describes as "a pretty big complex." One notable aspect is that the data center is exploring "behind-the-meter generation" rather than going through the traditional PJM interconnection process.
To support the data center, Essential Utility, the parent company of Pennsylvania's largest gas utility, Peoples, will provide gas consulting and energy management services. Essential is also leveraging its subsidiary, Aqua, to build and operate a water treatment plant using the nearby Monongahela River.
In a parallel development, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission launched a review earlier this year to address issues around co-locating large loads, such as data centers, at power plants within PJM's footprint. Additionally, PJM has initiated a fast-track stakeholder process to develop new rules for interconnecting data centers to the grid.
The Greene County data center project represents a significant opportunity for the region to diversify its energy landscape and attract new investment in the growing data center industry.
