March 17, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Bethlehem Township’s Environmental Advisory Council will meet Thursday, and data centers are on the agenda.
The council is, as its title indicates, advisory. The EAC covers a lot of ground, though I suspect quite a few township residents don’t know it exists.
Here’s its reason for being, from the township website:
“The Environmental Advisory Council advises other local governmental agencies, including, but not limited to, the planning commission, park and recreation boards and elected officials, on matters dealing with protection, conservation, management, promotion and use of natural resources, including air, land and water resources, located within its or their territorial limits.”
The agenda for Thursday allows for public comment, then discussion of the EAC’s position on data centers, an update on solar power for the township, and talk about Earth Day activities.
The township and other Lehigh Valley municipalities are discussing ways to regulate or keep out data centers. While the township is mostly already built up, developers can be creative, as we have seen warehouses planned for former quarries and dumps, and older building sites can be used for new purposes.
Data centers are huge warehouses of computer servers and other equipment that store information used by technology giants such as Amazon and Microsoft. They consume enormous amounts of electricity and water (for cooling), raising concerns about prices for residents.
The EAC will meet Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. in the township municipal building, 4225 Easton Ave. The meeting is open to the public.
Here’s the agenda, which is also available on the township website. Agendas are subject to change.
Disclosure: I own shares in Amazon but I wouldn’t want to live near a data center.
Bethlehem Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC)
Meeting agenda – March 19th, 2026, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Bethlehem Township Municipal Building
1) Public comment – 5 min
2) Data Center – EAC position
3) Solar for township update
4) Earth Day activities
5) Township newsletter – Summer article
6) Other comments
7) Adjourn – 8:30
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 