In the race to develop data centers to satiate the growing appetite for artificial intelligence, Washington County is hoping to be a contender.
CNX — a natural gas company based in Washington County — is teaming up with Chicago-based real estate giant JLL to market and lease the 1,500-acre Zediker Station site in South Strabane Township, about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh.
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The pitch includes 400 buildable acres and access to natural gas reserves, a lot of water, and Remediated Mine Gas — methane leaking from coal mine ventilation systems that’s otherwise released into the atmosphere. The companies say RMG blended with traditional natural gas creates a fuel source that can achieve carbon-neutral power generation for a data center.
Dan Adamski, executive managing director at JLL, called Washington County “an attractive option for hyperscale development,” not only because of its geographical location between established data center markets in Ohio and Virginia, but also because of the amount of space, access to power infrastructure, and “the innovative approach to sustainable energy.”
JLL is marketing the Zediker Station site outside of Washington, Pa., as one of the largest available data center development sites in the state, saying it could support hyperscale data computing for major cloud providers such as Google, Meta and Amazon.
Data centers are big buildings that house computer hardware to store and process digital information, essentially functioning as the backbone of the internet. Some of the largest cover an area the size of more than 17 football fields.
A typical AI data center uses as much electricity as 100,000 households, and the largest under development will consume 20 times more, according to the International Energy Agency. They also require billions of gallons of water for systems to keep all that computer hardware cool — sparking concern in some communities that don’t want huge industrial facilities — and all the noise and lighting that comes with them — changing the character of their community.
But Nick Sherman, chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, said he is welcoming potential development in the outskirts of Washington.
“Washington County is proud to support this transformative project that positions our region and Washington County at the forefront of sustainable data center development,” Sherman said in a news release.
“The Zediker Station property is primed for development and represents significant economic opportunity for our community — bringing quality jobs, infrastructure investment, and innovative energy solutions,” he added. “Washington County, already a leader in the national energy economy, stands ready to demonstrate that we are open for business and ready to lead the burgeoning digital economy as well.”
