# Erie County, Pennsylvania: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy

Home to Erie, Millcreek Township and Harborcreek Township

Erie County is not a build-out site today. It feels the boom through the grid it shares, the utilities that serve it and the work nearby. Erie County is home to Erie, Millcreek Township, Harborcreek Township and Fairview Township. Next door, Chautauqua County, New York, has 528 MW of planned generation. Construction employs 4,249, up 7.7% since 2019. 2 MW has retired here since 2019, including Erie Coke (other technologies, 2 MW, 2019). 35 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar.

2 MW
of generating capacity retired since 2019

-0.8%
electrical contractor jobs since 2019, now 492

41 MW
of operating power plants, mostly solar

## Cities and towns in Erie County

Erie County is home to Erie, Millcreek Township, Harborcreek Township and Fairview Township.

Erie91,838 residents
Millcreek Township52,680 residents
Harborcreek Township16,603 residents
Fairview Township11,494 residents
Summit Township7,539 residents
North East Township6,424 residents
Corry5,993 residents
Edinboro5,790 residents
Girard Township4,780 residents
Greene Township4,428 residents
Washington Township4,364 residents
McKean Township4,340 residents
North East4,018 residents
Waterford Township3,852 residents
Conneaut Township3,824 residents
Lawrence Park Township3,684 residents
Wesleyville3,112 residents
Springfield Township3,002 residents
Girard2,906 residents
Lake City2,842 residents
Union City2,823 residents
Venango Township2,202 residents
Elk Creek Township1,830 residents
Greenfield Township1,777 residents

And 14 smaller places.

Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Avonia, Fairview, Lawrence Park, Northwest Harborcreek, Penn State Erie (Behrend).

Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities.

## What changed in Erie County

| Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population (2020 → 2025) | 270,724 | 265,832 | ▼ 1.8% | 16th of 67 by size |
| Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 121,826 | 119,834 | ▼ 1.6% | 33rd of 67 by growth |
| Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $43,433 | $56,039 | ▲ 29.0% | — |
| Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 3,944 | 4,249 | ▲ 7.7% | 22nd of 62 by growth |
| Electrical contractor jobs (2019 → 2025) | 496 | 492 | ▼ 0.8% | — |
| Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 4.5% | 3.9% | ▼ 0.6pts | — |
| Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 35 MW |  | — |
| Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 2 MW |  | — |

Its power plants have 41 MW of capacity, 79% of it solar. Unemployment was 3.9% in August 2026, against 4.5% in 2019. Electrical contractors employ 492, down 0.8% since 2019 against up 5.3% statewide, at an average $65,037 a year. Employers here counted 119,834 jobs in 2025, down 1.6% from 2019. FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co is the largest utility serving Erie County, one of 4 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 17.37¢/kWh in 2024, above the 16.30¢ median for Pennsylvania utilities. 265,832 people live here, down 1.8% since 2020.

## Who powers Erie County

### Utilities with service territory in Erie County

| Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co | Investor Owned | Bundled | 1,802,612 | 17.37¢ | 16% |
| Northwestern Rural E C A, Inc - (PA) | Cooperative | Bundled | 18,190 | 15.58¢ | 17% |
| Borough of Girard - (PA) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Warren Electric Coop Inc | — | — | — | — | — |

Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers.

### Operating power plants 

| Technology | Capacity | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Solar | 32 MW | 79% |
| Other technologies | 6 MW | 15% |
| Petroleum | 3 MW | 7% |

| Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erie Solar, LLC | Erie Solar, LLC | Solar | 20 MW | 2025 |
| Samaritan Solar | Birch Creek Development | Solar | 12 MW | 2026 |
| Lakeview Gas Recovery | WM Renewable Energy LLC | Other technologies | 6 MW | 1997 |
| Girard (PA) RTO BTM | American Mun Power-Ohio, Inc | Petroleum | 3 MW | 2022 |

### Retired since 2019

| Plant | Technology | MW | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erie Coke | Other technologies | 2 MW | 2019 |

## The Erie County labor market

| Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| All industries | 119,834 | $56,039 | 1.00 |
| Construction | 4,249 | $67,609 | 0.67 |
| Electrical contractors | 492 | $65,037 | 0.57 |
| Power and communication line construction | 80 | $91,813 | 0.41 |
| Data processing and hosting | 23 | $78,044 | 0.06 |

Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out.

## Data centers and local rules in Erie County

No data center, local measure or delayed project is on record in Erie County. Pennsylvania has 36 local measures on record statewide.

## Erie County and its neighbors

Of the 4 counties that border Erie County, Chautauqua County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined.

[[[[

| County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erie County | 265,832 | ▼ 1.6% | 41 MW | — | — | — |
| Ashtabula County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/ohio/ashtabula-county) OH | 96,713 | ▼ 5.2% | 30 MW | — | — | — |
| Chautauqua County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/new-york/chautauqua-county) NY | 124,126 | ▼ 5.4% | 496 MW | 528 MW | — | — |
| Crawford County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/pennsylvania/crawford-county) | 81,792 | ▼ 3.8% | — | — | — | — |
| Warren County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/pennsylvania/warren-county) | 37,038 | ▼ 10.1% | 491 MW | — | — | — |

## More of Pennsylvania

[All Pennsylvania countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/pennsylvania)[Crawford County81,792 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/pennsylvania/crawford-county)[Warren County37,038 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/pennsylvania/warren-county)

## Erie County, answered from the record

### Who provides electricity in Erie County, Pennsylvania?

4 utilities have service territory in Erie County in the EIA-861 2024 report: FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co, Northwestern Rural E C A, Inc - (PA), Borough of Girard - (PA), Warren Electric Coop Inc. The largest, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co, charged residential customers 17.37¢/kWh on average in 2024.

### What county is Erie, PA in?

Erie is in Erie County, Pennsylvania. About 91,838 people live there (2025 Census estimate).

### What county is Millcreek Township, PA in?

Millcreek Township is in Erie County, Pennsylvania. About 52,680 people live there (2025 Census estimate).

### What county is Harborcreek Township, PA in?

Harborcreek Township is in Erie County, Pennsylvania. About 16,603 people live there (2025 Census estimate).

### What power plants are in Erie County?

4 operating plants with 41 MW of capacity. The largest is Erie Solar, LLC (20 MW, solar).

### Are there data centers in Erie County?

The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Erie County. The nearest activity on record is next door in Chautauqua County.

### Is Erie County adding jobs?

Employers counted 119,834 jobs in 2025 against 121,826 in 2019 (-1.6%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 3,944 to 4,249.

### Does Erie County have a data center moratorium?

No county-level measure is on record for Erie County. Pennsylvania has 36 local measures statewide, listed on the state page.

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Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/pennsylvania/erie-county
Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).