Pennsylvania records reveal Amazon behind contested Project Hazelnut data center

Amazon Web Services is the newly identified end user for Project Hazelnut, the proposed hyperscale data center campus in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania.

For people in the area who tried to learn who would occupy the site, that disclosure is likely to deepen concerns about the project’s size and the secrecy surrounding it.

Here’s what to know

Public records emails reviewed by LehighValleyLive.com showed that Amazon Web Services would operate Project Hazelnut if local officials approved it.

The governor’s office released the records Jan. 22.

The correspondence, sent between February and October 2025, includes messages involving Pennsylvania community and economic development secretary Rick Siger and Amazon Web Services economic development manager Rebecca Ford.

In one of those exchanges, Siger said he wanted to disclose Amazon’s role, but Ford responded that “contractual issues” would determine when any public announcement could be made.

The proposal includes 15 buildings and its own power…