NorthPoint Development is offering $10,000 to each of about 4,500 households in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, if its proposed data center project moves forward, but the cash pledge has done little to quiet opposition.
According to The Wall Street Journal, only a small number of residents said the payment would make them welcome the project. Some described the offer in far harsher terms and called it a bribe.
Project Hazelnut spans about 1,300 acres
The project, known as Project Hazelnut, would be built near Interstate 81 in Luzerne County. NorthPoint plans a data center campus covering roughly 1,300 acres, with up to 15 buildings and a substation.
To help win approval, the developer sent the cash proposal to local households. The amount is roughly equal to about two months of income for a typical local family, the report said.
Residents would not get paid immediately
The money would only be distributed after the first data center building receives its certificate of occupancy. That means residents would first have to see the project approved, built and signed off before the checks arrive.
The report said the local median household income is about $60,000, putting the $10,000 payment at around 17% of annual income. Even so, residents would have to live through the construction and the political fight before receiving anything.
Revised package totals $165 million
NorthPoint released a revised community benefits plan on June 24 with a total value of $165 million.
- $45 million is set aside for household payments.
- $15 million would go to education, job training, arts and culture, and youth programs.
- $105 million would be paid to the township over 15 years, or about $7 million a year.
The company also pledged support for local festival attractions and funding for fire and emergency services.
The offer followed legal and political setbacks
The timing matters. The cash proposal came after the project had already run into resistance.
In November 2024, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro named the development as one of the flagship projects in the state’s Fast Track permitting program and said it could create 900 jobs.
In November 2025, more than 200 residents showed up in opposition, and Hazle Township supervisors voted 3-0 to deny the land development application.
In May 2026, a county court ruled against NorthPoint and left that denial in place. The case is still on appeal. On June 8, township supervisors also voted unanimously for a 180-day moratorium on data centers. The $10,000-per-household plan was unveiled after that sequence of defeats.
Residents say the burden is uneven
Ed Parks, who lives in the Eagle Rock Resort community next to the proposed site, told The Wall Street Journal that every household would receive the same $10,000 whether it is located right beside the project or several miles away, even though the likely impact on noise and property values would be very different.
Another Eagle Rock resident, Ed Negra, told the newspaper: 「They can’t just throw money around and think they can go wherever they want and disrupt everybody’s quality of life.」
A retired teacher interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said: 「$10,000 won’t make up for what my house could lose in value.」
Residents also cited concerns about water use, electricity costs, and distrust of AI executives and local officials.
Coal mining history still shapes local views
Joanne Balay, speaking to Inside Climate News, pointed to the area’s mining legacy. She said, 「It’s beautiful here. But coal mining scarred it, and we don’t want any more destruction.」
Luzerne County was a coal-producing area in the 19th century and still has three Superfund pollution sites. For some residents, the proposed data center is not simply another development project. It touches a longer history of environmental damage.
NorthPoint says the idea came from a heated public meeting
Brent Miles, NorthPoint’s chief marketing officer, told The Wall Street Journal that the payment idea grew out of a contentious public hearing last year, when angry residents asked what supporters of the data center would get in return.
He described the company’s answer as 「pretty aggressive」 and 「pretty forward leaning」 and said it had persuaded nearly 100 residents who were initially skeptical.
That figure remains small against a base of roughly 4,500 households. The Wall Street Journal said data center developers have typically offered local governments benefit packages worth tens of millions of dollars. Sending cash directly to residents marks a newer phase in that outreach, but in Hazle Township it has not been enough to change the broader mood.