Upper Merion denies five-site King of Prussia data center plan

Upper Merion Township has denied MLP Ventures' plan for data centers on five sites in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, a combined 4.6 million square feet of proposed capacity. Data Center Dynamics reported the board of supervisors' decision.

The board said the application lacked detail on the data centers and on community impact. Residents filled the hearing to oppose the project, and a petition has drawn just under 18,000 signatures, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.

MLP's Brian O'Neill said the company will appeal. The developer is also pursuing a 2 million square foot data center at the former Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill in Plymouth Township, where community pushback has been significant. A decision there is expected later this year.

The denial landed in the same week Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order imposing strict requirements on data center development in Pennsylvania, Data Center Dynamics reported. The order's specific provisions are not described in the coverage. The appeal will run under state rules that changed while the application sat in review.

The two events tighten the permitting pathway for large data centers in Pennsylvania. Municipal approval was the first gate; now a state order adds another layer on top. For capital already parked in land options, interconnection deposits, and design work, the appeal calendar determines the return. Development money does not earn while a site is tied up in review.

The Plymouth Township decision becomes the second test. A denial would remove another 2 million square feet from the pipeline. Approval would show that a developer can survive loud opposition by supplying the detail Upper Merion said was missing.

The lesson for private investors is to underwrite local politics as carefully as power and fiber. This board stopped a large, well-capitalized application on completeness alone, before the harder questions about grid costs and water supply even arose.