PA Community Rejects $10,000 Personal 'Bribes' To Build Data Center

HAZLE TOWNSHIP, PA — A Pennsylvania community has roundly rejected $10,000 personal payments from Amazon trying to force a massive AI data center proposal on the region, the latest sign of the enormous disconnect between citizens, corporations, and political leaders on the palatability of the controversial technologies.

Northpoint is the developer for Project Hazelnut, a Poconos proposal about 25 miles south of Wilkes Barres. Amazon is the end user. They found no success with what critics described as unabashed bribery.

Ginny Kerslake, a senior organizer with the nonprofit Food and Water Watch who has been helping to lead the project's opposition, said she "knew of no one" in the community interested in the payments.

"This $10,000 act of desperation by the data center developer is not the story," Kerslake said in a statement. "The story is how a community is standing up together against two titans of the industry, Northpoint and Amazon Web Services…and winning. That’s the story and it’s one that’s playing out elsewhere in Pennsylvania and should give every community hope, as our state and federal government continue to fail."

Famed activist Erin Brockovitch characterized the effort similarly.

"So its down to bribery now eh?" she shared. "How much would it take?"

The 1,283-acre, 15-building hyperscale center was originally rejected by Hazle Township in Nov. 2025.

Developers have been tied up with legal maneuverings since attempting to keep the proposal alive. The $10,000 payments, part of a $165 million "community benefits" package, was introduced this June. Letters were sent to the homes of area families.

"$10,000 doesn't match how much it's going to tank my property value," local resident Jeff Fasnacht told the Wall Street Journal.

Another resident said the payments were an attempt to pit different parts of the community against each other.

"It's ridiculous," Ed Parks told The Center Square. "They are trying to drive a wedge between Hazle Township residents who are directly affected by the data center, like myself, and people who might live a couple of miles away."

The proposal was unanimously rejected 3-0 by township supervisors last year, who cited the project's lack of a special exception to the township's zoning ordinance. But hundreds of residents joined demonstrations and public meetings to express much broader concerns with the proposal, concerns shared by groups fighting data centers around the state: the infamous noise or data center "hum" that runs 24/7, permanent changes to the rural landscape, declining property values, enormous usage of water and energy, and a general distrust of AI companies.

That distrust was further fueled by Amazon's refusal to identify itself as the end user of the project. That eventually came to light through a series of Right to Know requests from the activist group Concerned Citizens of Montour County, which documented communications between Amazon and Pennsylvania government officials attempting to hide the relationships.

That also intensified scrutiny on the role Gov. Josh Shapiro has played in working with Amazon and other companies to "fast track" data center proposals with preferential treatment and rapid reviews and permitting. A recent executive order by Shapiro ended the fast track process, but does not address larger bipartisan demands from Pennsylvania residents and officials, specifically an end to the 100 percent exemption on state taxes to data centers, and a three year moratorium on data centers.

With a moratorium of at least three years, advocates say, not only can thorough studies can be done on the impacts of hyperscale data centers, but also a more nuanced picture can be gained of their ultimate utility. It's what neighboring New York state has done. Both Republicans and Democrats across Pennsylvania have advocated for it, though Shapiro and some loyal Democrats have ignored those calls and pivoted instead to sell a posture of "careful" development.

Some 74 percent of Pennsylvanians oppose data center construction, and 84 percent show no support, according to this summer's Quinnipiac University polling.

Northpoint, meanwhile, is still attempting to appeal the rejection of Project Hazelnut. Hazle Township has ordered a pause on data center applications through at least December.