Cash to Residents Is the Newest Tool in the Data Center Fight

A developer in Pennsylvania has tried something new to get a data center approved. NorthPoint Development sent letters to Hazle Township residents in June offering $10,000 to every one of the roughly 4,500 households in town, a $45 million payout, in exchange for letting the company build the first of 15 buildings planned across 1,300 acres. In a township with a median household income of about $60,000, that is real money. Most residents interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said no anyway. Hazle Township’s government rejected the project on zoning grounds in November, NorthPoint sued to overturn the decision, and the township has since enacted a temporary moratorium while it rewrites its zoning laws...