PAX-1 data center campus (Middlesex Township)
Also called: Pennsylvania Digital I, Pennsylvania Data Center Partners, Carlisle Development Partners
A 16-building data center campus on 700 acres is being built in Middlesex Township, Cumberland County. It would have more than 500 diesel generators and discharge water toward Carlisle. Residents are fighting it in court.
Where things stand: Site work and blasting under way since March 2026; supervisors approved the first six buildings on Sept. 2, 2026. On Oct. 5, 2026 a judge again refused to stop work, but set a Nov. 13 hearing on residents' new request to pause it.
🕒 Latest update (Oct 5, 2026): After a new court filing by the residents' group Stop PAX-1, a Cumberland County judge refused to order an automatic stop to construction, but scheduled a hearing for Nov. 13, 2026 at 2 p.m. on whether to pause work.
Middlesex Township Board of Supervisors. We don't know yet if PAX-1 data center campus (Middlesex Township) is on the agenda. Call the office to check before you go.
What we know
- 📍 WhereMiddlesex Township, Cumberland County
- 🏢 CompanyPennsylvania Data Center Partners
- 🌳 Size700 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs1,400 megawatts (about as much as 1,120,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromMore than 500 diesel generators planned; residents say extra power not from the grid is needed
- 💧 WaterMiddlesex Township Municipal Authority public water (from wells); the developer says no direct use of Conodoguinet Creek or new wells on site · 400,000 gallons a day
- ❄️ CoolingNot named; developer describes on-site water storage and 'advanced cooling' designed to stay within the township water allocation
- 🛢️ Diesel generators500
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- What will be in the water discharged toward Carlisle? 🙋 I'll find out
- Who is the end user? 🙋 I'll find out
- What did the court decide? 🙋 I'll find out
- Will the judge pause construction after the Nov. 13, 2026 hearing? 🙋 I'll find out
- Will the developer ask the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to approve its water use? (As of October 2026, SRBC's public list shows no data center application here; only the township authority's pending request for a new Well 2.) 🙋 I'll find out
🔎 What we checked
- Oct 6, 2026: We checked the Susquehanna River Basin Commission's public list of water applications: there is no water application from this project. As of mid-2026, SRBC said Amazon's Salem Township campus was the only data center it had approved. A data center needs SRBC approval before it runs if it uses up (mostly by evaporation) more than 20,000 gallons a day on a 30-day average, or takes water from its own wells or streams above SRBC limits.
What happened so far
- Oct 16, 2025The Middlesex Township Municipal Authority board agreed to set aside up to 400,000 gallons of water a day for the campus. The authority said it had about 910,000 gallons a day of unused capacity at peak times.
- Jan 15, 2026Carlisle Development Partners signed a $14.1 million deal with Middlesex Township for the right to use public water and sewer, up to 400,000 gallons of water a day (about as much as 2,367 homes).
- March 2026Blasting began near homes.
- Sept 2, 2026Supervisors approved the Phase 1-B final land development plan for the first six buildings.
- Sept 16, 2026First court hearing on residents' challenges (spot zoning, permits).
- Oct 5, 2026After a new court filing by the residents' group Stop PAX-1, a Cumberland County judge refused to order an automatic stop to construction, but scheduled a hearing for Nov. 13, 2026 at 2 p.m. on whether to pause work.
Local votes and rules
⚖️ Court case
Several resident households appealed the land use approval for the PAX-1 data center. In September 2026 a judge refused to stop work while the case goes on, but also refused the developer's request to throw the case out.
✅ Approved
Middlesex Township's vote on final plans for the PAX-1 data center was postponed when too many people showed up for the meeting room, and was moved to August 19, 2026. Residents later took the township's land use approval to county court.
✅ Approved
Middlesex Township supervisors approved subdivision plans for PAX-1, an 18-building, 700-acre data center campus near Carlisle. Land development plans and power and water plans still needed approval.
🗺️ Zoning change
Middlesex Township created a Data Center Overlay District on farmland along Country Club Road at a landowner's request. This cleared the way for the large PAX-1 data center campus.
Drag the slider to compare the land before and now.
Where this comes from
- Middlesex Township approves first phase of controversial PAX-1 data center project · WITF · Sept 3, 2026
- PAX-1 (Pennsylvania Digital I) · More Than Just Parks Data Center Tracker · Sept 2, 2026
- Responding to new challenge, judge refuses to stop PAX-1 data center but sets new hearing · WHTM abc27 (via Yahoo News) · Oct 5, 2026
- PA DEP Data Center Permit Tracker · Pennsylvania DEP · Oct 6, 2026
- Board of Supervisors Meeting Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 6pm (agenda) · Middlesex Township · Oct 6, 2026
- Pennsylvania community works to accommodate data center water needs · GovTech (from The Sentinel) · Oct 2025
- Data center giant secures $14 million deal to consume 40% of Pennsylvania town's excess water · Common Dreams (citing PennLive) · Feb 2026
- WAAV: Middlesex Township Municipal Authority Well 2 (Pending 2025-174) · Susquehanna River Basin Commission · Oct 6, 2026
- Water Use by Data Centers in the Susquehanna River Basin - FAQ · Susquehanna River Basin Commission · 2026
- Water Application and Approval Viewer (WAAV) · Susquehanna River Basin Commission · Oct 6, 2026
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