Interview by Jonathan Kersting
Data centers are coming to Pennsylvania — but getting them built is a whole different story.
In this episode of The Empire Lights, powered by Comcast Business and Babst Calland, host Jonathan Kersting of the Pittsburgh Technology Council sits down with Kate Cooper, shareholder at Babst Calland, to unpack the rapidly evolving landscape of data center development across the state.
From the Governor's GRID Standards and behind-the-meter power generation to the complex permitting maze at the DEP and municipal level, Kate breaks down what's really happening on the ground. The conversation dives into how tech-world uptime expectations — like "four nines" availability — are colliding with old-school land development, creating a high-stakes negotiation environment where no playbook exists yet. They also explore Pennsylvania's competitive advantages: brownfield sites, natural gas infrastructure, and a deep bench of environmental and land-use legal expertise that's putting the Pittsburgh region at the center of the data center boom.
If you want to understand what it actually takes to bring a data center from announcement to groundbreaking — and why Pennsylvania's approach might be smarter than you think — hit PLAY.
Read Kate's latest article: How Pennsylvania’s Data Center Rules Are Rewriting Deal Terms