We, the undersigned residents, taxpayers, and professionals of Butler County, urge the Forward Township Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to approve the land development plans for the Misty Hollow Energy & Data Campus at 614 Prospect Road. 

When challenges arise, communities face a choice between two mindsets: a politics of scarcity that says "no" to every new endeavor out of fear, or an Abundance Agenda—a commitment to building the clean energy, modern infrastructure, and technological capacity required for our community to thrive. Blocking a multi-billion-dollar private investment on land that was previously strip-mined does not preserve the past; it simply forfeits our economic future.

A loud campaign of misinformation has tried to paint this project as an environmental and financial burden. The actual engineering plans submitted to Forward Township and reviewed by Gannett Fleming tell the exact opposite story:

1. It Brings Its Own Power—And Can Lower Regional Energy Costs
   Opponents claim data centers drain the electric grid and raise residential utility bills. Misty Hollow is explicitly designed to solve this. By partnering with local energy experts at GridSwitch Asset Management, the campus includes an on-site, clean, behind-the-meter 300-megawatt natural gas power plant right next to an existing gas well pad, scaling to 600 MW within five years. It draws zero megawatts from our residential power grid. Better yet, as the facility scales, it has the capacity to sell up to 300 MW of surplus generation back into the regional grid—putting downward pressure on electricity bills for Butler County families while utilizing clean-burning Pennsylvania natural gas right at the wellhead.
2. It Protects Connoquenessing Creek with Closed-Loop Cooling & On-Site Treatment Opponents have spread fear that the campus will drain or pollute Connoquenessing Creek. The engineering filings are crystal clear: not a single drop of water will be drawn from or discharged into Connoquenessing Creek.
   
   Instead of old-fashioned evaporative cooling towers that guzzle millions of gallons of water, Misty Hollow uses a modern closed-loop cooling system that continuously recirculates chilled fluid inside sealed pipes.
   
   The campus is funding and building a private 16-inch waterline connection to existing municipal infrastructure and constructing its own 80,000-square-foot on-site wastewater treatment facility. It brings its own water infrastructure to the table without straining our creek or municipal septic systems. 
3. Massive Tax Revenue for Seneca Valley Schools and Forward Township
   With Zero Strain on Services Residential housing developments require new school buses, more classrooms, and miles of township-maintained cul-de-sacs. A 1,000,000-square-foot energy and data campus pays massive commercial real estate taxes every single year while sending zero children to the Seneca Valley School District and placing virtually no daily traffic burden on Prospect Road. This commercial tax windfall will fund our schools, bolster local volunteer fire departments, pave township roads, and shield Butler County homeowners and retirees from future property tax hikes.
4. Thousands of Union & Skilled Trade JobsFrom Fall 2027 through 2029
   Building this campus will create a massive boom for Western Pennsylvania's skilled workforce. This isn't just an empty shell—it is a full-scale energy and computing campus requiring local electricians, pipefitters, ironworkers, scaffold carpenters, mechanical insulators, fireproofers, and heavy equipment operators. Once operational, the 23,800-square-foot office building, power plant, and data halls will provide permanent, high-paying local careers in systems engineering, power plant operations, HVAC maintenance, and 24/7 physical security. 
5. High-Speed AI Infrastructure for Local Professionals and Businesses
   Butler County is no longer just a bedroom community; it is home to thousands of remote software engineers, data scientists, healthcare innovators, and small business owners. As AI agents, automated workflows, and real-time compute become essential to daily professional work, physical proximity to compute infrastructure matters. Anchoring a premier 600 MW AI and data campus in Forward Township brings dense middle-mile fiber connectivity and low-latency regional compute capacity directly to our doorstep—positioning the Pittsburgh-North corridor as a premier hub for the 21st-century economy rather than outsourcing our digital future to Northern Virginia or Ohio.
6. Responsible Land Use with Natural Buffers
   The proposed campus sits on a 274-acre former farm whose valley floor was previously strip-mined. Nearly 80 acres of the property will remain undeveloped buffer land, preserving the surrounding ridges and tree canopies while putting industrial-grade infrastructure in a natural topographic basin where it belongs. 

Forward Township has no zoning ordinance specifically because our county values property rights and productive enterprise. Provided the developers meet every strict engineering, stormwater, acoustic, and environmental standard set by the Township Engineer and the PA DEP, we should welcome this investment with open arms. 

Say YES to energy abundance. Say YES to skilled jobs and lower tax burdens. Say YES to the Misty Hollow Energy & Data Campus!