Proposed
Lower Mount Bethel hyperscale data center (near Martins Creek power plant)
Also called: Slate Belt Data Center, Lower Mount Bethel Technology Center
Developers including Talen Energy want to rezone 284 acres of farmland near the Martins Creek power plant for a hyperscale data center. A tracker lists it at 1.2 gigawatts. The rezoning goes to planning reviews next.
Where things stand: Developers filed a petition to rezone 284 acres from farmland to industrial; the township was adopting data center rules (Sept. 2026).
🕒 Latest update (Sept 14, 2026): Supervisors to acknowledge the rezoning petition and vote on data center rules.
🗓️ Public meeting: Oct 20, 2026 · 6:30 PM
Lower Mount Bethel Township Planning Commission. Anyone can come and speak.
Lower Mount Bethel Township Planning Commission. Anyone can come and speak.
Petition to rezone the data center land from farmland to industrial.
📍 Chelsea Sun Inn, 487 Stone Church Drive, Mount Bethel, PA 18343. The Planning Commission reviews the petition by Martins Creek LLC and partner companies to change parcels G11-3-3, G11-3-7 and G11-3-6 from Agricultural Preservation to Industrial; supervisors decide later after a public hearing. Supervisors' public comment is for taxpayers and residents only.
What we know
- 📍 Where284 acres near Martins Creek Belvidere Highway and DePues Ferry Road, near Talen's Lower Mount Bethel power plant, Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County
- 🏢 CompanyPeron Development, J.G. Petrucci Company and Talen Energy
- 🌳 Size284 acres
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromNear Talen's Lower Mount Bethel gas power plant; PPL owns one of the parcels
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- How many megawatts and buildings? 🙋 I'll find out
- Will it take power directly from the Talen plant? 🙋 I'll find out
- How much water from the Delaware River? Will the Delaware River Basin Commission review it? 🙋 I'll find out
- Would the data center take water from the Martins Creek power plant's river intake, or from a public water company? 🙋 I'll find out
🔎 What we checked
- Oct 6, 2026: We checked the Delaware River Basin Commission's (DRBC) list of pending applications (August 2026): there is no application for this data center. DRBC said in November 2025 it had not received any data center applications. A data center needs its own DRBC approval only if it takes more than 100,000 gallons a day from its own wells or streams, or discharges more than 50,000 gallons a day (lower limits in some protected areas). Buying water from a water company does not need a separate DRBC approval.
What happened so far
- July 14, 2025The owner of the Martins Creek power plants next to the site asked the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to let it take more Delaware River water: up to 900 million gallons a month instead of 785.54 million, for more power generation. The request is for the power plants and does not mention a data center. It is still pending.
- Aug 2026More than 200 people packed a hearing on the township's data center ordinance.
- Sept 14, 2026Supervisors to acknowledge the rezoning petition and vote on data center rules.
🛰️ See it from above
Drag the slider to compare the land before and now.
2018–20202021–2023
Photos: PEMA / PASDA, Pennsylvania aerial photos.
Where this comes from
- Lower Mount Bethel Township set to take action on data center regulations · WFMZ-TV 69 News · Sept 11, 2026
- Slate Belt Data Center (Lower Mount Bethel) · More Than Just Parks Data Center Tracker
- PA DEP Data Center Permit Tracker · Pennsylvania DEP · Oct 6, 2026
- Board of Supervisors Monthly Meeting agenda, Oct. 5, 2026 · Lower Mount Bethel Township · Oct 2, 2026
- DRBC Project Review: Pending Project Status (August 2026), dockets D-1970-025 CP-3 and D-1999-054-2 · Delaware River Basin Commission · Aug 2026
- Frequently Asked Questions: Data Centers · Delaware River Basin Commission · Nov 24, 2025
- 'I don't want you' say Northampton County residents fuming data center farm takeovers · The Center Square (via Just the News) · April 19, 2026
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